Heart disease: ‘Wine drinkers’ more at risk of life-threatening cardiovascular events
Brexit: Femi Oluwole claims fishermen have 'turned to alcohol'
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
A new study of over 300,000 Brits may have dispelled the myth that mild drinking lowers risk of heart disease.
Research published from Anglia Ruskin University found that mild drinkers were at bigger risk than non-drinkers.
This study applies to people who have never suffered an episode of heart disease before.
Lead Author Dr Rudolph Schutte said: “[The health benefit] from low to moderate alcohol consumption is the biggest myth since we were told smoking was good for us.”
Dr Schutte explains that previous research has failed to account for important biases and led to the formation of a “J-shaved curve” where we believe that mild drinking reduces our risk rather than increases it.
An important mistake in past research is the failure to properly represent non-drinks as a reference group.
Many people that do not drink choose not to because they already suffer from poor health.
Other biases include examining drinking only by raw units consumed and not the specific types of drinks that can have different effects.
Some studies have claimed that drinking moderate amounts of wine can reduce the risk of specific types of heart disease, but wine is often pooled together with other alcohols and other types of heart disease.
Dr Schutte said: “While we hear much about wine drinkers having lower risk of coronary artery disease, our data shows their risk of other cardiovascular events is not reduced.”
The study examined people drinking less than 14 pints a week: the recommended limit presented by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers.
They found that each one-and-a-half pints of beer (at four percent strength) caused a 23 percent higher risk of suffering a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke.
DON’T MISS
Covid vaccine latest: AstraZeneca now linked to ‘transverse myelitis’ – MHRA warning [INFORMER]
High cholesterol: Three signs on your toes that plaque has built up in the artery walls [INFORMER]
Cancer warning: The type of fish that’s ‘known to cause cancer’ when eaten – pharmacist [INFORMER]
This is not the first research to throw into question the idea that a daily wine or beer could be good for the heart.
A study from the University Medicine Griefswald, Germany, found that people who currently identify as teetotal are liable to have previously struggled with alcohol of drug problems that distort their risk as current “non-drinkers”.
Professor Dr Ulrich John said: “We found that the majority of the abstainers had alcohol or drug problems, risky alcohol consumption, daily tobacco smoking or fair to poor health in their history: factors that predict early death.”
Alcohol has been implicated as a causal factor in over 60 diseases.
Some can worsen your risk of a heart attack, such as hypertension, and others are life threatening on their own such as stomach and liver cancers.
A report from Public Health England lists alcohol misuse as the biggest risk factor for death among 15-49 year olds in the UK.
Across all ages it constitutes the fifth largest risk factor.
Public Health England also warns that of the 600,000 dependent drinkers in 2019; 82 percent are not accessing treatment for their condition.
If you are concerned about the drinking habits of yourself or others you can contact the national alcohol helpline on 0300 123 1110.
Source: Read Full Article