Regularly drinking more than the recommended UK guidelines for
alcohol could take years off your life, according to new research
published today in the Lancet. Part-funded by the British Heart
Foundation, the study shows that drinking more alcohol is
associated with a higher risk of stroke, fatal aneurysm, heart
failure and death.
The authors say their findings challenge the widely
held belief that moderate drinking is beneficial to
cardiovascular health, and support the UK’s recently lowered
guidelines.
The study compared the health and drinking habits of
around 600,000 current drinkers in 19 countries worldwide and
controlled for age, smoking, history of diabetes, level of
education and occupation.
The upper safe limit of drinking was about 5 drinks
per week (100g of pure alcohol, 12.5 units or just over five
pints of 4% ABV2 beer or five 175ml glasses of
13% ABV wine). However, drinking above this limit was linked with
lower life expectancy. For example, having 10 or more drinks per
week was linked with 1-2 years shorter life
expectancy1. Having 18 drinks or more per week was
linked with 4-5 years shorter life
expectancy.
The research supports the UK’s recently lowered
guidelines, which since 2016 recommend both men and women should
not drink more than 14 units of alcohol each week. This equates
to around 6 pints of beer or 6 glasses of wine a
week.
However, the worldwide study carries implications for
countries across the world, where alcohol guidelines vary
substantially.
The researchers also looked at the association
between alcohol consumption and different types of cardiovascular
disease. Alcohol consumption was associated with a higher risk of
stroke, heart failure, fatal aortic aneurysms, fatal hypertensive
disease and heart failure and there were no clear thresholds
where drinking less did not have a benefit.
By contrast, alcohol consumption was associated with
a slightly lower risk of non-fatal heart attacks.
The authors note that the different relationships
between alcohol intake and various types of cardiovascular
disease may relate to alcohol’s elevating effects on blood
pressure and on factors related to elevated high-density
lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (also known as good cholesterol).
They stress that the lower risk of non-fatal heart attack must be
considered in the context of the increased risk of several other
serious and often fatal cardiovascular diseases.
The study focused on current drinkers to reduce the
risk of bias caused by those who abstain from alcohol due to poor
health. However, the study used self-reported alcohol consumption
and relied on observational data, so no firm conclusions can me
made about cause and effect. The study did not look at the effect
of alcohol consumption over the life-course or account for people
who may have reduced their consumption due to health
complications.
Dr Angela Wood, from the University of
Cambridge, lead author of the study said:
“The key message of this research is that, if you
already drink alcohol, drinking less may help you live longer and
lower your risk of several cardiovascular
conditions.”
“Alcohol consumption is associated with a slightly
lower risk of non-fatal heart attacks but this must be balanced
against the higher risk associated with other serious – and
potentially fatal – cardiovascular diseases,”
Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical
Director at the British Heart Foundation, which part funded the
study, said:
“This is a serious wakeup call for many
countries.”
Victoria Taylor, Senior dietician at the
British Heart Foundation said:
“This powerful study may make sobering reading for
countries that have set their recommendations at higher levels
than the UK, but this does seem to broadly reinforce government
guidelines for the UK.
“This doesn’t mean we should rest on our laurels,
many people in the UK regularly drink over what’s
recommended.
“We should always remember that alcohol guidelines
should act as a limit, not a target, and try to drink well below
this threshold.”
Notes to editors:
1 Calculated for a 40 year old
who continued to drink at this amount and frequency for
life
2 Alcohol by
volume
