All those who had suffered a previous cardiovascular event, former drinkers or those who had not completed the information on alcohol intake were excluded from the analysis. | Photo Credit: iStock Images
Key points
- ARU academics examined hospitalizations related to cardiovascular events among more than 350,000 UK residents aged between 40 and 69 years using data obtained from the UK Biobank study.
- The sample included 333,259 people who drank alcohol.
- Participants were asked about their total weekly alcohol consumption and their consumption of specific types of alcohol, such as beer, wine, and spirits.
Cambridge: Is even a little alcohol consumption bad for your health, contrary to popular belief? A study led by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has made some shocking discoveries on the same.
According to research published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, drinking less than the UK recommended limit of 14 units of alcohol per week still increases the risk of cardiovascular problems, including heart disease and stroke.
ARU academics examined hospitalizations related to cardiovascular events among more than 350,000 UK residents aged between 40 and 69 years using data obtained from the UK Biobank study.
The sample included 333,259 people who drank alcohol. Participants were asked about their total weekly alcohol consumption and their consumption of specific types of alcohol, such as beer, wine, and spirits. Those participants were followed for a median of about seven years, capturing all incidents in which the patients had been hospitalized for cardiovascular events.
All those who had suffered a previous cardiovascular event, former drinkers or those who had not completed the information on alcohol intake were excluded from the analysis.
The analysis found that, for those participants who drank less than 14 units of alcohol per week, the limit recommended by UK medical directors, each additional 1.5 pints of 4 percent beer (alcohol by volume) is associated with a 23 percent increased risk of suffering a cardiovascular event.
The authors argued that biases in the existing epidemiological evidence have resulted in the widespread acceptance of the “J-shaped curve” that erroneously suggests that low-to-moderate alcohol consumption may be beneficial for cardiovascular health.
These biases included the use of non-drinkers as a reference group when many did not drink for reasons of existing poor health, the pooling of all types of beverages when determining the alcohol consumption of a study population, and the incorporation of the observed lower risk of Coronary artery disease among wine drinkers. drinkers, potentially distorting the overall cardiovascular risk of the drink.
Lead author Dr. Rudolph Schutte, BSc Hons Medical Science Program Course Leader and Associate Professor at ARU, said:
“The so-called J-shaped curve of the relationship between cardiovascular disease and alcohol consumption that suggests a health benefit from low-to-moderate alcohol consumption is the biggest myth since we were told that smoking was good for us “.
“Among beer, cider and spirits drinkers in particular, even those who consumed fewer than 14 units a week had a higher risk of ending up in the hospital due to a cardiovascular event involving the heart or blood vessels. Although we hear a lot For wine drinkers who are at lower risk of coronary artery disease, our data show that their risk of other cardiovascular events is not reduced.”
He went on to say: “Embedded biases in the epidemiological evidence mask or underestimate the dangers associated with alcohol consumption. When these biases are taken into account, the adverse effects of even low-level alcohol consumption are revealed.”
“Avoiding these biases in future research would mitigate the current confusion and hopefully lead to stronger guidelines as current guidance on alcohol is curtailed,” he concluded.
