Any booze is bad for you, say US doctors. Nonsense, say British
RESEARCHERS behind a huge alcohol study were last night ridiculed for claiming there is ‘no safe level’ for drinking.
The Global Burden of Disease study, involving hundreds of scientists around the world, stated even one drink a day increases the risk of ill health.
The team claimed their findings should lead public health bodies ‘to consider recommendations for abstention’.
But the detail of the study revealed the impact of light drinking was in fact negligible. For every 100,000 people who drink a bottle of beer or small glass of wine daily, just four more people develop health problems each year than if all 100,000 remain teetotal.
The study, led by the University of Washington in the US, said: ‘Any health benefits of alcohol are outweighed by adverse effects’.
For every 100,000 light drinkers, 918 people each year develop one of 23 alcohol-related health problems. For every 100,000 non-drinkers, 914 develop the same problems – a difference of just four.
The numbers rapidly increase for heavier drinkers, but critics last night said the statistics go to the heart of the public debate around moderate drinking.
David Spiegelhalter, professor for the public understanding of risk at the University of Cambridge, said: ‘Claiming there is no “safe” level does not seem an argument for abstention. There is no safe level of driving, but the Government do not recommend that people avoid driving.
‘Come to think of it, there is no safe level of living, but nobody would recommend abstention.’ Professor Spiegelhalter said the impact was so low that it would take 25,000 people drinking
‘A rather low level of harm’
400,000 bottles of gin before a single extra health problem emerged.
‘That indicates a rather low level of harm in these occasional drinkers,’ he stressed.
‘Presumably people who choose to drink alcohol moderately get some pleasure from it, and any risk needs to be traded off against this enjoyment.’
He said the study – which gathered data from 28million people in 195 countries over 26 years – also cast doubt on UK official guidelines.
Drinking limits were cut in 2016 for men from 21 units to 14 units a week – the equivalent of just under two drinks a day – bringing them in line with the guidelines for women.
But the new study – published in the Lancet medical journal – found for every 100,000 people who consumed two drinks a day, there would be an extra 63 cases of ill health a year.
Professor Spiegelhalter said: ‘This analysis seems to strongly support the idea of the current UK guidelines being described as very low-risk.’
Above the two-drink level, the risks start to rise rapidly. For those who consume five small glasses of wine a day, 1,252 people in 100,000 a year suffer health problems – 37 per cent more than among teetotallers.
Lead author Dr Max Griswold, of the University of Washington, accepted that low-level drinking offered some degree of protection against heart disease, particularly for women. But he insisted this was outweighed by other risks.
‘We found that the combined health risks associated with alcohol increase with any amount of alcohol,’ he added.
And Dr Robyn Burton, of King’s College London, said: ‘The conclusions of the study are clear and unambiguous – alcohol is a colossal global health issue.’
The researchers calculated alcohol is linked to 2.8million deaths a year around the world.