US health officials have reported that doctors aren’t talking to their patients enough about the amount of alcohol they consume.
Only one in six adults says that their doctor has talked about the use of alcohol during their visit, according to HealthDay.
The statistics continue to shock as one in four binge drinkers have had their doctor discuss drinking with them and only 17 percent of pregnant women are asked. Even though binge drinking is extremely harmful for the body and drinking while pregnant harms the fetus, doctors are still neglecting to ask most patients about their habits.
According to NPR, 80 percent of adults say they have never talked about drinking with their doctor.
“The goal here is not to tell people to never have another drink. The health systemis not doing an effective job finding out about these health problems,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Center of Disease Control.
By talking to a doctor, patients could be able to cut back on alcohol consumption by 25 percent, which could certainly cut the almost 88,000 deaths linked to alcohol each year.
"Alcohol screening and brief counseling can help people set realistic goals for themselves and achieve those goals," Frieden said. "Health-care workers can provide this service to more patients and involve communities to help people avoid dangerous levels of drinking."