After analyzing the results of 107 previous studies, researchers have come to the conclusion that, contrary to what some studies have said, there are no health benefits to drinking a little alcohol. .
- After accounting for study biases, the appearance of benefits from moderate drinking diminishes significantly or even disappears.
- Neither occasional drinkers (less than 1.3 grams of alcohol or one drink every two weeks) nor low-volume drinkers (up to 24 grams per day or nearly two drinks) have a significantly reduced risk of die prematurely.
- On the contrary, alcohol consumption has been linked to at least 22 specific causes of death.
In the past, dozens of studies have allegedly shown that a glass of wine or a mug of beer a day can reduce your risk of heart disease and death. But these studies are flawed, argues a new review of studies published online March 31 in JAMA Network Openand the potential health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption disappear when certain flaws and biases are taken into account.
At best, a drink or two a day has no good or bad effect on a person’s health, while three or more drinks a day significantly increase the risk of premature death, the researchers report.
Lots of confusion and bias in alcohol studies
“Low or moderate drinking is roughly defined as between one drink a week and two drinks a day. This is the amount of alcohol that many studies, if you look at them uncritically, suggest to reduce your risk of dying. prematurely”said in a communicated the co-author of the review of studies, Tim Stockwell, former director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia (Canada). But after adjusting for the flaws and biases of the studies, “the appearance of the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption diminishes dramatically and, in some cases, disappears completely”he adds Tim.
For this study review, also called a meta-analysis, Tim Stockwell and his colleagues analyzed the results of 107 previous studies that assessed the relationship between alcohol consumption and death. These studies included nearly 5 million participants from several countries. “There is a lot of confusion and bias in these studies, and our analysis illustrates this”explains the Canadian researcher.
For example, many studies tend to place former drinkers in the same group as lifelong drinkers, labeling them all as “non-drinkers,” Stockwell said. But former drinkers have usually given up or reduced their alcohol consumption due to health problems.
The “ex-drinker bias”
For this new analysis, Stockwell and his colleagues pooled the data and then made adjustments that took into account issues such as “ex-drinker bias.” Their results reveal that former drinkers actually have a 22% higher risk of death than abstainers. Their presence in the group of “non-drinkers” skews the results, creating the illusion that light daily consumption is healthy.
The combined adjusted data from the studies showed that neither occasional drinkers (less than 1.3 grams of alcohol or one drink every two weeks) nor low-volume drinkers (up to 24 grams per day or almost two drinks ) had a significantly reduced risk of dying prematurely.
The researchers found a small, but not significant, increased risk of death among those who drank 25 to 44 grams a day, about three glasses. And there was a significantly increased risk of death for people who drank 45 grams of alcohol or more per day. The highest risk was for people who drank 65 grams or more of alcohol per day, or more than four drinks. Their risk of death was about 35% higher than that of occasional drinkers.
The risk of alcohol-related death in women is higher
The analysis also found that alcohol has a more dramatic effect at lower amounts on women’s risk of death. The increased risk of alcohol-related death in women was consistently higher than the risk in men. For example, the increased risk of death for women who drink 65 grams or more a day was 61%, nearly double that of men who drink that much.
“Women metabolize alcohol differently than men due to biological factors. Even drinking the same amount of alcohol, women will have higher blood alcohol levels, feel intoxicated faster, and take longer to metabolize it. “notes Pat Aussem, addiction specialist.
Alcohol use has been linked to at least 22 specific causes of death, Stockwell points out. It increases the risk of liver disease, certain cancers, stroke, and heart disease, and also contributes to injury deaths from car accidents, homicides, and suicides.
Here are your risks based on how much alcohol you drink
Research has established a “risk continuum” associated with weekly alcohol consumption, where the risk of harm is:
- 2 standard drinks or less per week – You are likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences for yourself or others at this level.
- 3-6 standard drinks per week – Your risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, increases at this level.
- 7 or more standard drinks per week – Your risk of heart disease or stroke increases significantly at this level.
“Each additional standard drink dramatically increases the risk of alcohol-related consequences. These risks increase with consumption because it is more difficult to repair damage to cellular tissues in the body and brain”said Pat Aussem. “In other words, less is more”she adds.
The researchers pointed out some limitations to their work. Measurement of alcohol use was flawed in most studies, they said, and self-reported alcohol use was likely underreported in many cases. They say studies would also be better off using occasional drinkers as a reference group because they tend to have more “normal” health characteristics than abstainers.
