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Study backs alcohol UK limit of six glasses of wine a week

BMJ 2018; 361 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k1630 (Published 13 April 2018) Cite this as: BMJ 2018;361:k1630
  1. Jacqui Wise
  1. London

A massive study supports the UK’s latest guidance on alcohol, which recommends a limit of 100 g alcohol a week—around five to six standard glasses of wine or pints of beer.1 This limit is much lower than that recommended in many other countries.

The study, published in the Lancet, includes data from 599 912 current drinkers taken from 83 prospective studies in 19 high income countries. It found an increase in all causes of death above 100 g alcohol a week.

The research was restricted to current drinkers who had no history of cardiovascular disease. Non-drinkers were excluded to minimise the possibility of reverse causality—for example, if former drinkers had abstained because of …

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