According to a recent study, there is no level of alcohol use that is healthy for one’s general health. This conclusion is sure to surprise moderate drinkers and has some specialists scratching their heads. wellhealthorganic.com:alcohol-consumption-good-for-heart-health-new-study-says-no
Public health authorities have long maintained that, while no one should start drinking in an effort to improve their health, moderate drinking—defined as up to one drink for women and up to two for men—will likely not harm anyone who already consumes alcohol and may even have some benefits. The American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society support this criterion, which is included in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The latest article, which was released on Thursday in The Lancet, challenges that long-held view.
According to research co-author Emmanuela Gakidou, a professor of global health and health metrics sciences at the University of Washington, “the evidence is mounting that no amount of drinking is In my judgment, we are not asserting anything that the data do not support.
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The new research indicated that alcohol was the seventh most common risk factor for premature mortality in 2016, accounting for 2.8 million deaths globally. The study’s foundation was a review of roughly 600 studies on alcohol and health and nearly 700 studies on the prevalence of drinking around the world.
. That figure equates to 2.2% of all female fatalities and 6.8% of all male fatalities.
the study, fatalities occurred that year.
According to the study, the health hazards may only get worse as you drink more. According to the study, those who consume one alcoholic beverage per day have a 0.5% increased risk of contracting one of 23 alcohol-related health issues, such as cancer, car accidents, or tuberculosis, in a given year as compared to non-drinkers. According to the study, at such level, the absolute increase is minimal, equaling about four more fatalities per 100,000 people each year. However, those who drank two drinks daily had a 7% higher risk than nondrinkers. According to the study, the risk increased by 37% at five drinks per day.
In Gakidou’s paper, she did find some slight cardiovascular benefits of moderate drinking, especially in women, but she claims that these benefits are outweighed by the multiple negative health effects of alcohol. The protective benefit “goes away, even at low doses,” she claims, when hazards like breast cancer and auto accidents are taken into account.
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Similar conclusions have recently been reached by other academics. For instance, in May, the World Cancer Research Fund issued a report stating that, at least in terms of cancer prevention, “it’s best not to drink alcohol.” In 2016, the U.K. government issued a similar suggestion.
While this is going on, several research have called into question the conventional wisdom that moderate drinking promotes heart health. That’s partly because some earlier studies failed to take into consideration the reality that many people who don’t drink do so because they have health difficulties that prevent them from drinking or because they previously struggled with addiction. Some studies have suggested that included these people in the overall non-drinking population may have distorted research findings, making teetotalers as a whole appear less healthy than they actually are.
Professor Walter Willett of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health criticises the premise that drinking’s negative effects are always outweighed by its positive ones. Heavy drinking is damaging, there is “no question” about it.
The Lancet paper identifies tuberculosis as the most common alcohol-related disease in the world, but according to him, there is ample evidence linking moderate drinking to lower total mortality and a lower risk of heart disease, which are far more pertinent health concerns for the majority of Americans. In the US, tuberculosis is extremely uncommon.
The effects of alcohol on tuberculosis shouldn’t affect our drinking habits in the United States, argues Willett. It’s merely misleading to combine everything into one large pot and make generalisations from it.
Willett does acknowledge that drinking even in moderation has drawbacks. A woman may have a lower risk of heart disease but a higher risk of breast cancer if she drinks one drink per day. These dangers might exceed the advantages for a young, healthy lady who is unlikely to pass away from heart disease. Willett points out that the woman would have to discuss her options with her doctor and that it’s doubtful that everyone would or should reach the same decision.
There are risks and benefits, and I believe it’s critical to obtain the best knowledge about both before making any personal decisions or consulting a health care professional.
Gakidou, on the other hand, asserts that the proposal made in her study is sound precisely because each person’s health decisions are unique.
A health system administrator observed, “It’s better for the population of your country overall to not drink at all than to drink a little bit.”
Dariush Mozaffarian, head of Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, concurs with this result.
He claims that while the health concerns of drinking are obvious, the benefits are much less so. Therefore, even while some moderate drinkers may never experience health issues as a result of drinking, “if you look at all the dangers and all
the advantages of alcohol, it’s likely net negative for the majority of the people,” he claims.
For those who have grown to feel good about their nightly glass of wine, that conclusion might seem harsh, but according to Mozaffarian, it is actually not that different from current medical recommendations.
In fact, I think this is in line with every organisation’s advice that, generally speaking, no one should start drinking to ward off diabetes or heart disease, says Mozaffarian.the use of alcohol has
never been advised by any organisation. The advice has been to limit your drinking to modest amounts, and that is the main caveat.
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