Large study looks at beneficial and detrimental effects of alcohol consumption

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDAug 14 2017

According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, light to moderate consumption of alcohol can actually reduce the risk of deaths due to cardiovascular causes while heavy drinking may raise the risk of deaths due to all causes and also due to cancers.

It is warned that heavy drinking can be severely harmful for health while drinking in moderation can be protective. There have been inconsistent reports and evidence regarding the beneficial effects of light to moderate drinking till date. This was a comprehensive study that looked at the link between alcohol consumption and risk of death due to all causes including cardiovascular diseases and cancers among Americans.

For this study the researchers gathered health and alcohol consumption data from 333,247 participants via the National Health Interview Surveys from 1997 to 2009. Alcohol consumption status and patterns of alcohol use was studied among the participants and they were thus classified into six categories;

• lifetime abstainers
• lifetime infrequent drinkers
• former drinkers and current light drinkers (Who consumed less than three drinks per week)
• Moderate drinkers (Who consumed more than three drinks per week to less than 14 drinks per week for men or less than seven drinks per week for women)
• Heavy drinkers (Who consumed more than 14 drinks per week for men or seven drinks per week for women)

Results showed that among the 333,247 participants, 34,754 participants died from all-causes during the study period. Of these deaths 8,947 were due to cardiovascular diseases - 6,944 due to heart conditions such as heart attacks and 2,003 due to cerebrovascular conditions such as stroke. Another 8,427 deaths were due to cancers.

Now comparing the deaths with the alcohol consumption status it was noted that male heavy drinkers had a 25 percent increased risk of deaths due to all causes and a 67 percent raised risk of dying from cancers. This was not noted among women. Heavy drinking and deaths due to cardiovascular causes was not found to be associated. Moderate drinking on the other hand showed a decreased risk of all-cause mortality of 13 percent among males and 25 percent among females. Moderate drinking also reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease related deaths by 21% among males and 34% among females. Light drinking too showed similar reduction in risk of deaths.

Bo Xi, associate professor at the Shandong University School of Public Health in China and the study's lead author explained the results of the study saying that this study showed that light-to-moderate drinking could have some protective effects against cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand heavy drinking was associated with disease and death. He stressed upon the fact that it was a “delicate balance” between the “beneficial and detrimental effects” of alcohol and this should be clearly explained to the consumers.

Sreenivas Veeranki, assistant professor in preventive medicine and community health at University of Texas Medical Branch and one of the authors of this study said that the studies were statistically very sound to remove all the confounding factors that could cloud the results and affect them. He explained that the curve between alcohol consumption and mortality is “J shaped” emphasizing the delicate balance Xi spoke about and called for more consumer awareness. Authors of the study agree that this study hinged upon the honesty and recall of the participants regarding their alcohol consumption and that could have been a problem.

According to Giovanni de Gaetano, director of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention at IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed, who wrote an accompanying editorial with the paper, for the older persons, light drinking might be more beneficial compared to the cancer risk posed by alcohol.