Risk Thresholds for Alcohol Consumption

A new study examines mortality risks related to alcohol use from approximately 600,000 drinkers of differing levels, in 83 prospective studies and across 19 countries.

One important finding from the study is that the initial threshold of elevated mortality risk related to alcohol use (100g of alcohol/week, or about 5-6 drinks of wine/beer) is 50-66% lower than previously recognized in international public health/medical standards (196-300g of alcohol/week). This indicates that previous levels of moderate alcohol consumption that were thought to be relatively safe (i.e., 10 drinks or less per week of wine/beer according to U.S. guidelines), in fact create significantly higher mortality risk, and that the definition of lower risk level for drinking should be scaled downwards (to about 5-6 drinks per week, or at about half the level of consumption previously thought to be at lower risk). 

A second important finding is that there is a linear relationship between the quantity of alcohol consumed and risk for all types of stroke, for heart failure, and for cardiovascular disease except for myocardial infarction (heart attack). Thus, even moderate levels of drinking alcohol create elevated health risk for stroke, heart failure, and other types of cardiovascular disease (**except for myocardial infarction, in which there is an inverse relationship between the quantity of alcohol consumed weekly and the risk for disease).  

Public Policy and Scientific Implications

“The chief implication of this study for public policy is to support reductions of alcohol consumption limits in existing guidelines, suggesting that the threshold for lowest risk for all-cause mortality is about 100 g per week (about 5–6 standard UK glasses of wine or pints of beer per week). The chief implication for scientific understanding is the strengthening of evidence that the association between alcohol consumption and total cardiovascular disease risk is actually comprised of several distinct and opposite dose–response curves rather than a single J-shaped association.”