Alcohol: a study demolishes "the myth" of small glass good for health

A large study estimates that the consumption of a single drink per day for one year results in an excess mortality of 100,000 deaths per year.
"A drink, it's ok, three glasses, hello the damage", this slogan, which everyone has remembered, is it deceptive? According to a large study of the frequency and impact of alcohol consumption, drinking even one glass of wine or beer a day poses a health risk. A study that will talk and that advocates the "zero alcohol".

The study, published Friday by the medical journal The Lancet , assesses levels of alcohol consumption and their effects on health in 195 countries between 1990 and 2016. Alcohol caused 2.8 million deaths in 2016, note -t it. Every year, one in three alcohol drinkers dies of alcohol-related health problems. The world has 2.4 billion drinkers, 63% of whom are men. According to the study, in 2016, alcohol consumption was the seventh risk factor for premature death and disability worldwide and the leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 49 (road accidents). , suicides, tuberculosis, etc.). Alcohol is associated with almost one in ten deaths in this age group.

"The myth that one or two drinks a day are good for you is just a myth"
Drink one drink a day for one year increases among those aged 15 to 95 years of 0.5% the risk of developing any of the 23 health problems related to alcohol (cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, cirrhosis, accidents, violence, etc.) in comparison with non-drinkers, say the authors. This corresponds to an excess mortality of 100,000 deaths per year in the world for one drink a day, says Dr. Emmanuela Gakidou of the Institute of Metrology and Health Evaluation (IHME, University of Washington), co-author of the study. "The health risks associated with alcohol are enormous," she says.

According to her, these results support other recent research that has found "clear and convincing correlations between alcohol consumption and premature death, cancer and cardiovascular problems". "The myth that one or two glasses a day are good for you is just a myth. Only "zero alcohol" minimizes the overall risk of disease, she says.

To abstain, is it reasonable?
On average, the highest number of alcoholic beverages (wine, beer, spirits ...) consumed per day is recorded among men in Romania (8.2) followed by Portugal and Luxembourg (7.3 each). For women, Ukraine (4.2), Andorra and Luxembourg (3.4 each) top the list. In France, consumption averages 4.9 glasses per day for men and 2.9 for women.

Standard drinks or glasses contain 10 g of pure alcohol. This is the case of a small glass of red wine (100 ml) at 13 degrees (13% alcohol) or a shot of whiskey or baby whiskey (30 ml to 40%).

"Given the pleasurable pleasures associated with moderate consumption, claiming that there is no" safe "level does not seem to be an argument for abstaining," said Sir David Spiegelhalter, a statistician, professor for public understanding of risk at Cambridge University. Driving is never 100% safe, but "the government does not recommend that people avoid driving". "Thinking about it," he adds, "there is no safe standard of living, but no one would recommend forbearance. "
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