Whether drinking little or much, a large study shows that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of up to 60 diseases.
Cirrhosis, stroke, and cancer are well-known risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption. However, after analyzing data from half a million men living in China, researchers from the University of Oxford discovered that this habit may also increase the risk of gout and cataracts.
Excessive alcohol consumption is believed to be responsible for approximately 3 million deaths worldwide each year. (Illustrative image: Shutterstock).
Among the 60 diseases, there are also other disorders that have not been previously linked to alcohol, such as fractures, lung cancer, and circulatory diseases.
Experts state that this finding indicates that alcohol consumption is associated with more types of diseases than previously researched.
Excessive alcohol consumption is estimated to cause around 3 million deaths globally each year. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) recommends that both men and women should not consume more than 14 units of alcohol per week. One unit is defined as half a liter of beer or a small glass of wine.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) asserts that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption for health. This argument is becoming a topic of heated debate. Some earlier studies suggested that a glass of wine or half a liter of beer daily may prevent various diseases.
The research team at the University of Oxford collaborated with colleagues from Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences to conduct this study.
They analyzed health records from a database in China containing information on the health of over 512,000 adults, with an average age of 52. The records included information about their drinking habits.
About 30% of men drink alcohol regularly—at least once a week—while this figure is only 2% for women.
As a result, women were used as a control group to confirm that the high disease risk in men is due to alcohol consumption rather than a mechanism related to genetic variations.
They analyzed health records over 12 years to assess the impact of alcohol on the risk of developing 207 different diseases, some of which are not medical conditions, such as traffic accidents and injuries.
The findings published in the journal Nature Medicine show that alcohol use increases the risk of 60 diseases among men in China.
Among these are 28 diseases previously identified by the WHO as related to alcohol, such as liver cancer, colorectal cancer, and rectal cancer.
However, they also uncovered 33 diseases not previously identified, such as gout, cataracts, fractures, and peptic ulcers.
Certain drinking habits, such as daily drinking, binge drinking, or drinking outside of meals, particularly increase the risk of serious diseases like cirrhosis.
The research team also identified dose-dependent relationships: consuming four drinks a day is associated with a 14% higher risk of alcohol-related diseases.
Such drinking frequency also increases the risk of developing the 33 newly identified diseases by 6%.
Additionally, having four drinks daily is linked to more than double the risk of developing liver disease and gout.
Men who drink alcohol regularly have a higher risk of hospitalization and disease compared to those who only drink occasionally.
This study also demonstrates the impact of alcohol consumption on disease risk across populations worldwide.
Professor Liming Li, a co-author of the study at Peking University, stated: “Alcohol consumption is on the rise in China, particularly among men. This large collaborative study highlights the need for enhanced alcohol control policies in China.”
Meanwhile, Associate Professor Iona Millwood from Oxford Public Health emphasized that it is clear that alcohol use is one of the most significant risk factors leading to poor health, both in China and globally. It is crucial to implement preventive strategies in various countries.
