Even light drinking can be harmful to health
Research reveals cardiovascular risk of consuming small quantities of
alcohol

Date:
January 28, 2022
Source:
Anglia Ruskin University
Summary:
Drinking less than the UK's recommended limit of 14 units of alcohol
per week still increases the risk of cardiovascular issues such
as heart and cerebrovascular disease.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Drinking less than the UK's recommended limit of 14 units of alcohol
per week still increases the risk of cardiovascular issues such as heart
and cerebrovascular disease, according to new research published in the
journal Clinical Nutrition.


========================================================================== Academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) examined hospitalisations
related to cardiovascular events among more than 350,000 UK residents
aged between 40 and 69 from data obtained from the UK Biobank study.

The sample included 333,259 people who drank alcohol. Participants had
been asked about their overall weekly alcohol intake and their intake
of specific types of alcohol including beer, wine and spirits. Those participants were followed up for a median of approximately seven years, capturing all incidents where patients had been hospitalised through cardiovascular events.

Anyone who had suffered a previous cardiovascular event was excluded
from the analysis, as were former drinkers or those who had not completed information on alcohol intake.

The analysis found that, for those participants that drank less than 14
units of alcohol per week -- the limit recommended by the UK's Chief
Medical Officers -- each additional 1.5 pints of beer at 4% strength
(alcohol by volume) is associated with a 23% increased risk of suffering
a cardiovascular event.

The authors argue that biases in existing epidemiological evidence
have resulted in the widespread acceptance of the "J-shaped curve" that
wrongly suggests low to moderate alcohol consumption can be beneficial
to cardiovascular health.

These biases include using non-drinkers as a reference group when many do
not drink for reasons of existing poor health, pooling of all drink types
when determining the alcohol intake of a study population, and embedding
the lower risk observed of coronary artery disease among wine drinkers, potentially distorting the overall cardiovascular risk from the drink.

Lead author Dr Rudolph Schutte, course leader for the BSc Hons Medical
Science programme and Associate Professor at ARU, said: "The so-called
J-shaped curve of the cardiovascular disease-alcohol consumption
relationship suggesting health benefit from low to moderate alcohol
consumption is the biggest myth since we were told smoking was good
for us.

"Among drinkers of beer, cider and spirits in particular, even those
consuming under 14 units a week had an increased risk of ending up in
hospital through a cardiovascular event involving the heart or the
blood vessels. While we hear much about wine drinkers having lower
risk of coronary artery disease, our data shows their risk of other cardiovascular events is not reduced.

"Biases embedded in epidemiological evidence mask or underestimate
the hazards associated with alcohol consumption. When these biases are accounted for, the adverse effects of even low-level alcohol consumption
are revealed.

"Avoiding these biases in future research would mitigate current
confusion and hopefully lead to a strengthening of the guidelines,
seeing the current alcohol guidance reduced." special promotion Get a
free digital "Metabolism Myths" issue of New Scientist and discover the
7 things we always get wrong about diet and exercise. Claim_yours_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Anglia_Ruskin_University. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Rudolph Schutte, Lee Smith, Goya Wannamethee. Alcohol - The myth of
cardiovascular protection. Clinical Nutrition, 2022; 41 (2):
348 DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2021.12.009 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220128100730.htm

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