No support for moderate drinking improving health

A large study from Scotland gives no support to the theory that moderate alcohol intake has any protective effect on health. Hart et al (p 1725) related alcohol consumption to mortality in a large cohort of employed men in Scotland over a period of 21 years. They measured a wide range of socioeconomic and other confounding variables, enabling them to adjust for confounders more fully than in previous studies of alcohol consumption. Risk of all cause mortality was similar for non-drinkers and men drinking up to 14 units a week but was higher for men drinking over 22 units a week, even after adjustment. The researchers found no apparent relation between alcohol consumption and risk of mortality from coronary heart disease but a strong relation with risk of mortality from stroke, with men drinking 35 or more units a week having twice the risk of the non-drinkers.

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Relevant Article

Alcohol consumption and mortality from all causes, coronary heart disease, and stroke: results from a prospective cohort study of Scottish men with 21 years of follow up

Carole L Hart, George Davey Smith, David J Hole, and Victor M Hawthorne
BMJ 1999 318: 1725-1729. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]