Booze Not So Great for the Heart After All, Study Says

By Ed Cara on at

It might take less alcohol than we think to damage the heart and shorten our lifespans, suggests a new study published today in The BMJ. For many, the threshold might be fewer than one drink a day.

Using existing population data, the researchers studied over 600,000 people across 19 countries and separated them into different groups, based on their self-reported level of drinking. Then, after accounting for factors like age, education, and smoking history, they compared their levels of various conditions such as heart failure, stroke, and fatal aneurysm (a bulged blood vessel that can rupture). They also calculated the average life expectancy for each group.

Mirroring past research, they found that relatively heavy drinkers were more likely to die earlier. Having 10 or more drinks per week was associated with a life expectancy one to two years shorter than average, while 18 or more drinks was associated with a life expectancy around 5 years shorter. The link between drinking and a shorter lifespan only seemed to fade away when looking at people who drank five or less drinks a week.

The researchers weren’t able to find a clear-cut benefit of moderate drinking for heart health, something that other research has found. Alcohol consumption overall was associated with fewer heart attacks when compared to not drinking at all. But there was no level of drinking that was associated with a lower risk of other conditions like stroke, heart failure, or fatal aneurysms (bulged blood vessels), among other things.



Many studies didn’t account for past drinkers who quit drinking entirely when they included them as a part of the non-drinking population that was compared to drinkers. These former drinkers tend to have quit partly because they were in poor health, so not separating them can skew the numbers in favour of drinking. And more recent studies have found the supposed health benefits of drinking disappear once you account for those errors in experiment design.




The same is true in the states. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, more than two-thirds of Americans report drinking more than the recommended amount at least once a month.



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