See The Dueling Science Behind How Alcohol Affects Your Health: Two reports are set to influence American guidelines for alcohol consumption by Brianna Abbott and Julie Wernau of The WSJ. Excerpts:
"The scientists’ findings [from the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking] released in January were stark: Men and women in the U.S. have a 1 in 1,000 risk of dying from alcohol use if they consume more than seven drinks a week. This risk increases to 1 in 100 if they consume more than nine drinks a week.
Having one drink a day was linked with an increased risk of liver cirrhosis, esophageal cancer and oral cancer. It also was linked to a lower risk of strokes due to blood clots; but that benefit could vanish if people drink a lot in one sitting, even on rare occasions, the report said."
"Yet the National Academies’ review, published in December, concluded that adults who drank moderately—up to two drinks a day for men and one drink for women—had a 16% lower risk of dying from any cause compared with never-drinkers, and a lower risk of cardiovascular death. It also found that moderate drinkers had a 10% higher risk of breast cancer. "
"Some other scientists took issue with the report itself, including the connection between moderate drinking and lower mortality. People who don’t drink sometimes have health problems that preclude them from it, researchers said. Moderate drinkers also might be moderate in other activities including diet, and some studies show that they have higher incomes. (people with higher incomes are generally healthier)
That can make moderate drinking look good, even when the health halo isn’t from the alcohol.
“I don’t believe the association is a real one,” said Dr. Michael Siegel, an alcohol and tobacco researcher at Tufts University School of Medicine, who wasn’t involved in either report. “It’s such a normal part of our culture that people who don’t drink, there’s something unique about them.”
Alcohol research often relies on asking people about their drinking habits and recording their health outcomes, making direct causes sometimes difficult to tease out, researchers say. People also underestimate how much they drink."
"Genetics, smoking history and behaviors including exercise add or detract from personal risk, researchers said. Binge-drinking is worse than spreading it out."
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