However, if you’re 40 or older with no underlying health issues, new research found that small amounts of alcohol could reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes.
“These diseases are the leading causes of death in much of the world,” said lead author Emmanuela Gakidou, a professor of health metrics science at the Institute of Health Metrics and Health Assessment Institute. University of Washington Medicine.
“So when you look at the cumulative impact on health, especially among older adults, it shows that a small amount is really better for you than not drinking. For all other causes, it’s harmful at all levels of consumption.” .
In fact, the study found no protective effects for diseases such as tuberculosis, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, liver disease, epilepsy, pancreatitis and many cancers.
“Alcohol guidelines, both global and national, tend to emphasize the difference between the level of consumption of men compared to women,” Gakidou said. “What our work suggests is that global guidelines, national guidelines, and local guidelines would be more effective if they focused on age rather than gender.”
The findings underscore “the importance of alcohol recommendations tailored to specific regions and populations,” Amanda Berger, vice president of science and health for the U.S. Distilled Spirits Council trade group, told CNN in an email.
“It’s important to note that no one should drink alcohol for potential health benefits, and some people shouldn’t drink anything.”
Children under 40 are at higher risk
The report, published Thursday in the journal Lancet, is the first to report alcohol risk by global geographic region, age, sex and year, according to the Institute of Metrics and Health Assessment, which prepared the study . The analysis analyzed 30 years of data on people between the ages of 15 and 95 from 204 countries and territories collected by the institute’s study on the overall burden of disease, injury and risk factors, which tracks premature death and disability of more than 300 diseases.
The analysis estimated that 1.34 billion people worldwide consumed harmful amounts of alcohol by 2020. More than 59% of people who drank unsafe amounts of alcohol were between 15 and 39 years old. More than two-thirds were men.
In all geographic regions, the study found that drinking alcohol does not bring any health benefits to people under the age of 40, but increases the risk of injury, such as motor vehicle accidents, suicides and homicides.
The study defined a standard drink as 10 grams of pure alcohol, which could be a small glass of 3.4 ounces of liquid (100 milliliters) of red wine, a standard can of 12 ounces of liquid (355 milliliters). ) or a bottle of beer (3.5% alcohol). ) or a glass of 1 ounce of liquid alcohol (30 milliliters) which is 40% alcohol by volume.
Criticized conclusions
While praising the analysis as well-conducted, some experts not involved in the research expressed concern about the study’s findings.
Statistics show that there are “more than 14 times more deaths attributable to alcohol in the UK between the ages of 70-74 than between the ages of 20-24,” said Colin Angus, a senior researcher with the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group. University of the United Kingdom. of Sheffield, in a statement. The data “contradicts the claim of this new study that we should focus on alcohol consumption by younger age groups,” Angus said.
“The room elephant with this study is interpreting risk based on cardiovascular disease outcomes, especially in the elderly,” said Dr. Tony Rao, a visiting clinical researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience. of King’s College. London.
“We know that any supposed health benefits of alcohol in the heart and circulation are offset by an increased risk of other conditions such as cancer, liver disease and mental disorders such as depression and dementia.” , Rao said in a statement.
A study published in March found that just one pint of beer or a glass of wine a day can reduce total brain volume, and the damage increases as the number of daily drinks increases. On average, 50-year-olds who drank a pint of beer or a glass of wine 6 ounces a day over the past month had a brain that looked two years older than those who drank only half a ounce. beer. Research in the US has shown that you drink. among adults it increased during the pandemic, especially among women, with “a 41% increase in days of intensive consumption,” said Dr. Sarah Wakeman, medical director of the Substance Use Disorders Initiative at General Hospital. Massachusetts, in a previous interview with CNN. A published study. in June he found many moderate drinkers over 30 years of binge eating over the weekend, defined as five or more drinks in a row or in a short period of time. Drinking an average of more than one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men – or five or more drinks at the same time – was linked to alcohol problems nine years later. Women are especially sensitive to the effects of alcohol. , according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or NIAA. Alcohol-related problems appear sooner and at lower levels of consumption than in men, he said. Women are more likely to suffer from alcohol-related brain damage and heart disease than men, and studies show that women who drink one drink a day increase their risk of breast cancer. between 5% and 9% compared to those who abstain.
“The recommendation that under-40s not drink at all is totally unrealistic,” Matt Lambert, CEO of the Portman Group, an industry-funded group that regulates alcohol marketing in the UK, said in an email .
Gakidou, the study’s lead author, admitted that “it is unrealistic to think that young adults will stop drinking. However, we believe it is important to communicate the latest evidence so that everyone can make informed decisions about their health.” .
For those over 65, any increase in alcohol consumption is worrisome because many older adults “use medications that can interact with alcohol, have health conditions that can be aggravated by alcohol, and may be more susceptible to falls. related to alcohol and other accidental injuries “. said the NIAA.
“There is a high threshold for being able to say that alcohol is an effective prevention therapy, and studies so far have not reached that threshold. If they did, then you can be sure that the beverage industry would apply to the FDA a license, ”said Dr Nick Sheron, a professor in the department of hepatology at the University of Southampton in the UK.
“A more detailed and nuanced analysis”
The Institute for Health Metrics and Assessment last published a report on alcohol four years ago when it analyzed data from the 2016 global disease burden on people aged 15 to 49, and found that none amount of liquor, wine or beer was safe for general health.
“What we have done in this new study is a more detailed and nuanced analysis of 21 different regions of the world,” Gakidou said. “What we’ve been able to do now is break it down: for whom is alcohol harmful? For whom is alcohol beneficial? That’s why the message seems different, but it’s actually consistent with what we said before.
“If you ask me, ‘Will the message be different in 10 years?’ Maybe new evidence is likely to come out, “he said. “That can change our thinking.”