Older adults don’t benefit from moderate drinking, according to large study

Even light drinking was associated with an increase in cancer deaths among older adults in Britain, researchers reported in a recent large study. But the risk was accentuated primarily in those who had existing health problems or who lived in low-income areas.

The study, which tracked 135,103 adults aged 60 and older for 12 years, also punctures the long-held belief that light or moderate alcohol consumption is good for the heart.

The researchers found no reduction in heart disease deaths among light or moderate drinkers, regardless of health or socioeconomic status, when compared with occasional drinkers.

The study defined light drinking as a mean alcohol intake of up to 20 grams a day for men and up to 10 grams daily for women. (In Australia, a standard drink is 10 grams of alcohol.)

Some experts believe alcohol raises our risk of cancer “from the first drop”.Credit: Getty Images

“We did not find evidence of a beneficial association between low drinking and mortality,” says Dr Rosario Ortolá, an assistant professor of preventive medicine and public health at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and lead author of the paper, which was published in JAMA Network Open.

On the other hand, she adds, alcohol probably raises the risk of cancer “from the first drop”.

The findings add to a mounting body of evidence that is shifting the paradigm in alcohol research. Scientists are turning to new methodologies to analyse the risks and benefits of alcohol consumption in an attempt to correct what some believe were serious flaws in earlier research, which appeared to show that there were benefits to drinking.

Much of this new research compares rates of heart disease and death in moderate and occasional drinkers, instead of abstainers. Abstainers as a group include many individuals who stopped drinking because they were already seriously ill, and relying on this group for comparisons may have falsely made light drinkers look healthier.

Current Australian dietary guidelines say that no more than 10 standard drinks should be consumed per week and no more than four standard drinks per day.

International recommendations are moving toward a more conservative approach amid growing concern about alcohol’s role in promoting cancer and questions about its putative benefits against cardiovascular disease.

Last year, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction issued a new guidance stating that no amount or kind of alcohol is good for health and that “even a small amount of alcohol can be damaging to health”.

Drinking mostly wine was found to moderate the risks associated with alcohol.Credit: Getty Images

People who consume one to two drinks a week “are likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences,” the centre said. However, the risk of cancer increases with three to five weekly drinks, and the risk of heart disease and stroke increases with seven or more weekly drinks, according to the Canadian guidelines.

The World Health Organisation says that even low levels of alcohol consumption “can bring health risks,” but adds that “most alcohol-related harms come from heavy episodic or heavy continuous alcohol consumption”.

The new study found that while older adults who were light drinkers faced higher risks of dying if they had health-related or socioeconomic risk factors, drinking mostly wine and drinking only with meals moderated the risk, particularly of death from cancer.

The reasons were not entirely clear, Ortolá says, but the reduction may be because of slower alcohol absorption, or it might reflect other healthy choices from these people.

It also wasn’t obvious why individuals with health and socioeconomic risk factors may be more susceptible to the harmful outcomes associated with alcohol, as this was one of the first studies to examine the issue.

It’s possible that these people have a reduced tolerance to alcohol, the authors suggested; they may also take medications that interact poorly with alcohol.

Overall, moderate drinking – defined as between 20 and 40 grams of alcohol daily for men and between 10 to 20 grams for women – was associated with a higher risk of death from all causes and a higher risk of dying of cancer.

Heavier drinking – over 40 grams a day for men and over 20 grams a day for women – was associated with higher deaths from all causes, as well as cancer and cardiovascular disease.

The New York Times

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