Study refutes positive effects of alcohol

Study refutes positive effects of moderate alcohol consumption

02/12/2015

Moderate alcohol consumption has no health-promoting or even life-prolonging effect. This is clear from British scientists who have examined the effects of alcohol on their health as part of their study. Accordingly, that too is „Glasses in honor“ not recommended. Previous studies, which found that alcohol in small amounts has a positive effect on health, were based on errors in the statistics, the researchers write in the journal „British Medical Journal“.

Moderate alcohol consumption does not prolong life
The World Health Organization (WHO) lists alcohol as one of the top ten health risks. Liver damage, increased risk of cancer and everyday problems are just a few of the negative consequences of increased alcohol consumption. Surprisingly, numerous studies in recent years, however, came to the conclusion that a moderate consumption of alcohol is not only innocuous but even beneficial to health. Researchers headed by Craig Knott at University College London got to the bottom of this myth and came to a very different conclusion: low-volume alcohol does not prolong life, nor is it considered healthy.

For their study, the researchers evaluated questionnaires from more than 18,000 British over 50-year-olds „Health Survey for England“ from 1998 to 2008. The participants had logged their drinking behavior for over ten years, with more than 4,000 subjects dying during this time. The scientists focused on the deaths of occasional and non-drinking and compared the data with each other. It turned out that alcohol consumption has no decisive influence on the length of life. Only in women aged 65 and over has a minimal positive effect with the consumption of small amounts of alcohol. However, the researchers rated this effect as statistically doubtful. Because after changing the definition of casual drinkers, the effect did not materialize.

Statistical errors are responsible for the positive effects of alcohol in previous studies
According to the researchers, statistical and methodological errors are the reason that earlier studies of moderate alcohol consumption attest to a positive or even health-promoting effect. It was usually not considered why non-drinkers do not drink alcohol, the researchers report. Therefore, even former drinkers who have already suffered from health (long-term) damage of their previous alcohol consumption, the non-drinkers have been assigned. The study results could have been distorted by the ill non-drinkers. Therefore Knott and his colleagues counted out the former drinkers from the group of non-drinkers. As it turned out, there were hardly any differences in mortality between drinkers and non-drinkers.

The researchers also emphasize that they could not prove that alcohol actually had a positive effect on the health of casual drinkers. So even the most healthy diet of moderate drinkers could be health-promoting and crucial. That, too, had mostly not been taken into account in older studies.

Positive effect of alcohol is overrated
Like Karl Mann from the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim talking to the news agency „dpa“ For example, low levels of alcohol may prevent certain types of stroke. The resveratrol contained in red wine, for example, is said to reduce cardiovascular disease risk, as it is intended to protect against inflammation. However, the substance is also contained in grapes, raspberries, mulberries, plums and peanuts, albeit at a lower concentration than in red wine.

Mann limits the topic of alcohol: „However, the minimum positive effects have been overrated in the past by advertising and the public“, and points out: „The higher the consumption, the greater the damage.“

According to the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA), a woman should consume a maximum of ten grams of pure alcohol per day, compared to 20 grams for men. However, these quantities are only considered harmless if alcohol is dispensed with at least two days a week.