According to the new research there were three million deaths in 2016 attributed to alcohol. The researchers use these cases to to state the case that alcohol consumption carries ‘massive health risks’ and that other studies that seek to establish a ‘safe’ weekly consumption of alcohol are wasting their time. This is because, the research, from University of Washington School of Medicine, concludes, there is no safe level of alcohol.
The three million deaths in 2016 were drawn from a total population of drinkers estimated to be 2 billion people, with the ratio 63 percent makes to 37 percent females. Data was drawn from a larger study called the Global Burden of Disease. Alcohol related diseases were classified as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, communicable diseases and unintentional injuries.
From the analysis, the researchers discovered that the risk of all-cause mortality, and of cancers specifically, rises with increasing levels of consumption, and the level of consumption that minimizes health loss is zero. The researchers make the case of increased government action globally to help to reduce alcohol consumption.
The research did not make any differentiation between beer, wine, and spirits *or ‘liquor’). The scientists drew on general data pertaining to alcohol-related deaths and associated health outcomes to determine their conclusions, according to the BBC. A key finding was that alcohol is the leading risk factor for premature mortality and disability in the 15 to 49 age group, accounting for 20 percent of deaths.
Summing up the study, Dr. Emmanuela Gakidou, who led the research, said: “Our findings are consistent with other recent research, which found clear and convincing correlations between drinking and premature death, cancer, and cardiovascular problems. Zero alcohol consumption minimizes the overall risk of health loss.”
The study has been published in the medical journal The Lancet and it is titled “Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.”
