The association of pattern of lifetime alcohol use and cause of death in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study

Abstract

Limiting alcohol use throughout life is associated with a lower risk of death, largely due to cardiovascular disease but also other causes. However, the potential health benefits of alcohol use are difficult to establish due to the possibility of selection bias and competing risks related to diseases occurring later in life.

Alcohol consumption and low-risk drinking guidelines among adults: a cross-sectional analysis from Alberta’s Tomorrow Project

“…18,50-52 Flawed study designs have been implicated in earlier findings of "protective effects" 53-58 -however, a great deal of controversy on this topic remains. 51,55,[59][60][61][62] A large proportion of participants in this study reported light-moderate drinking (0.1 to 29.9 g of ethanol/day or < 1 to 2 drinks/day), and may be unaware of the potential harm associated with even small Continued on the following page but regular amounts of alcohol. Further investigation into the relationship between low-risk drinking and health outcomes is essential to better characterize the exact risk-benefit threshold for alcohol consumption among different population groups.…”

Consommation d’alcool et lignes directrices pour la consommation d’alcool à faible risque chez les adultes : une analyse transversale de l’Alberta’s Tomorrow Project

“…Les effets nocifs de la consommation d'alcool sur la santé pourraient être sous-estimés par rapport à ceux découlant du tabagisme : on a estimé qu'en 2000 l'alcool avait entraîné une charge mondiale de morbidité semblable à celle du taba gisme 8,48 . Les résultats récents en recherche ne montrent pas que la consommation d'alcool aurait des effets protecteurs sur l'organisme 18, [50][51][52] et certaines études antérieures ayant étayé l'existence d'« effets protecteurs » de la consommation d'alcool étaient défaillantes sur le plan méthodologique [53][54][55][56][57][58] -en fait, ce sujet demeure controversé 51,55,[59][60][61][62] . Une grande proportion de participants à l'étude ont indiqué consommer de l'alcool en quantité faible ou modérée (0,1 à 29,9 g d'éthanol par jour ou de moins de 1 verre par jour à 2 verres par jour) et pourraient ne pas être conscients des effets néfastes potentiels de quantités d'alcool dans l'organisme certes faibles mais régulières.…”

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

“…Findings from meta-analyses have shown considerably elevated relative risks in former drinkers, equivalent to 30 g of pure alcohol per day or more for some outcomes, 94,95 although this fi nding could occur as a result of confounding by misclassifi cation of former drinkers as lifetime abstainers. [96][97][98][99] Future GBD studies should carefully re-evaluate whether or not the excess risk in former drinkers is overestimated. If the relative risks for former drinkers have been overestimated, this overestimation will also aff ect our assessment of the alcohol SEV and the global trend in the SEV.…”