A new study of alcohol use in countries of all income levels shows that current use increases the risk of alcohol-related cancers and injury, with no reduction in risk of mortality or cardiovascular disease overall.
The research, published in The Lancet, supports health strategies to reduce harmful alcohol use, especially in low-income countries (LICs).
Alcohol consumption has been associated with both benefits and harms, yet previous studies were mostly carried out in high-income countries.
This new study investigated associations between alcohol consumption and clinical outcomes in a prospective cohort of countries at different economic levels.
The research — led by Dr Andrew Smyth of the HRB Clinical Research Facility, NUI Galway, and the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Canada — came from 12 countries participating in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study, a prospective cohort study of individuals aged 35–70 years.
The high-income countries (HICs) were Sweden and Canada; upper-middle-income countries (UMICs) were Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Poland, South Africa, and Turkey; lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) were China and Colombia; and LICs were India and Zimbabwe.
The study included 114,970 adults, of whom 12,904 (11%) were from HICs, 24,408 (21%) were from UMICs, 48,845 (43%) were from LMICs, and 28,813 (25%) were from LICs.
Source: Irish Medical Times, 30/09/15
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