A groundbreaking systematic review of the existing medical literature found: Researchers publish A study published in the Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research has found that previous research suggesting that moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial for health is deeply flawed.
For the past few decades, the conventional wisdom has been that, based on previous research, moderate alcohol consumption (around four to five drinks per week for adults) offers some health benefits and may even lead to longer lifespan. But this view has come under increasing doubt, and scientists who reviewed 107 published studies on alcohol consumption and health reported that many contained important methodological errors that seriously undermined their conclusions.
These studies focused on older adults to demonstrate the association between alcohol and longevity, and the researchers report that many studies do not distinguish between adults who previously drank little or nothing but now drink moderately and those who now drink moderately after having acquired potentially harmful drinking habits throughout their lives. This distinction, the researchers argue, is crucial. “Low-quality” studies that did not ask self-reported moderate drinkers about their previous drinking habits showed that alcohol consumption was associated with longer lifespan, but “high-quality” studies that took into account subjects’ past drinking history showed no such correlation.
These high-quality studies had a mean cohort age of 55 years or younger and followed participants beyond age 55, demonstrating increasing methodological rigor. The 107 studies reviewed by the authors covered the experiences of 4,838,825 participants, including 425,564 death records.
“When you look at the weakest studies, you see health benefits,” said lead researcher Tim Stockwell, a scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria. statement.
There is a widespread misconception that limited or moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial for health, but researchers argue that this may be harmful.
“Studies with life-course selection bias can produce misleading positive health associations,” the authors write. “Such biases permeate the field of alcohol epidemiology and can confound communication about health risks.”
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Alcohol and drinking
