A joint survey by the British Liver Trust and Prima magazine has found that more than one in three women aged over 35 drinks more than they did in their teens. One in five women over 35 admits to regularly binge drinking, the survey found. The results come as a study by the Department of Health revealed that diseases caused by lifestyle are increasing rapidly.

Deaths from liver disease in England are now above the European average, the study found. The survey conducted by the British Liver Trust found women's favourite alcoholic drink was wine yet two thirds did not know how many units were in a glass.

A large 250ml glass of wine can contain three units of alcohol depending on the strength. Alison Rogers, Chief Executive of the British Liver Trust, said: “This survey quantified what we have suspected to be true for a while – unit awareness is staggeringly low among this key age group, special offers in supermarkets incite bulk purchasing and one in ten of respondents do not give their liver a day off from alcohol.

"It is also safe to say that women over the age of 35 do not identify with the ‘binge drinking’ culture, even though one in five of respondents did actually binge drink. It would seem that the term has been too closely connected to younger drinkers and we are missing key audiences who need to be aware of the dangers of overloading their liver with alcohol.”

Since 1991 the number of women between the ages of 35 and 54 dying from alcohol-related causes, including alcoholic liver disease, has more than doubled.

Women should drink no more than two to three units of alcohol a day and have two alcohol-free days a week, under Government guidelines.

Almost 2,000 readers of Prima completed the survey.

Meanwhile the Royal College of Surgeons and the College of Emergency Medicine has called for nurses to question patients about their drinking when they are being treated for accidents or injuries caused by alcohol.

The 15 to 20 minute discussion should not take place during their initial treatment as the patient is likely to still be drunk but during their follow-up, when removing stitches from a wound caused while fighting or falling when drunk, it was suggested.

Pilots have shown that more people had reduced their drinking following the discussion when compared with those who did not talk about their alcohol consumption.