This has not been a good week for “moderate” alcohol drinkers. There has been a barrage of articles which make me re-think what “moderate” alcohol intake is.
Just 2 days ago I wrote this blog.
Look at this BBC article. This was a half a million patient prospective Chinese study that indicated that if a group of 100 non-drinkers started drinking a glass or two every day, there would be an extra two strokes. This is roughly the opposite effect (negates the benefit) of prescribing a statin to reduce risk of stroke. Here is the original Lancet article.
Here is a previous Lancet study from 2018 “The Global Burden of Disease” study. It quantified alcohol as the SEVENTH leading cause of death in the world and stated
“the risk of all-cause mortality, and of cancers specifically, rises with increasing levels of consumption, and the level of consumption that minimises health loss is zero”
So, continuing the discussion from yesterday – what level of alcohol consumption is moderate, what level is safe and what should I advise myself and my patients? My thoughts today:
- No level of alcohol consumption is safe
- If you do not drink, don’t start drinking just for the sake of “health benefits”. They do not exist
- If you enjoy drinking alcohol, limit to maybe 1-2 drinks per week