A recent study examines the health impact of alcohol consumption at different ages. The authors conclude that, for people over 50 years of age, the health risks can be less serious. Excessive alcohol consumption is linked to a series of serious health consequences. These include certain types of cancer, diseases of the liver and heart, and damage to the nervous system, including the brain. However, as it has been exhaustively covered by the popular press, drinking in moderation could have certain health benefits. Several studies have concluded that drinking alcohol at a low level could have a protective effect. One study, for example, found that light and moderate alcohol consumption protected against mortality from all causes, as well as against mortality related to cardiovascular diseases. It is no surprise that these stories have been well received and widely read, but not all researchers agree, and the debate continues. A recent study conducted by Dr. Timothy Naimi, of the Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts, adds more fuel to a fire that is already rampant. The authors point to the methodology used in previous studies, and published their findings in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs earlier this week. A new approach The researchers argue that the way previous studies measured the impact of alcohol on health could be flawed. Specifically, they observe that the studies are generally observational and generally recruit participants over 50 years of age. The authors argue that this is problematic because it excludes anyone who may have died from alcohol before age 50. «The deceased can not be enrolled in cohort studies». Dr. Naimi summarized for the first time his concerns about this selection bias inherent in an article published in the magazine Addiction in 2017. "Those who have established themselves as 50-year-old drinkers are 'survivors' of their alcohol consumption who [initially] may have been healthier or have had safer drinking patterns."
Dr. Timothy Naimi According to the authors, almost 40 percent of deaths from alcohol consumption occur before age 50. This means that the vast majority of research on the potential risks of alcohol does not take these deaths into account and could underestimate the real dangers. To reinvestigate, the authors relied on data from the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact Request maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English). According to the CDC, this application "provides national and state estimates of health impacts related to alcohol, including deaths and potential years of life lost." The difference in age The analysis showed that the level of risk related to alcohol of an individual was strongly influenced by age. In total, 35.8 percent of alcohol-related deaths occurred in people 20 to 49 years old. When analyzing deaths that were avoided with alcohol consumption, scientists found only 4.5 percent in this age group. When they looked at individuals 65 and older, the story was different: Although 35 percent of the alcohol-related deaths occurred in this group, the authors found a massive 80 percent of deaths prevented by alcohol in this group. demographic group. The researchers also observed this marked difference between the age groups when they observed the number of potential years lost by alcohol. They showed that 58.4 percent of the total number of years lost occurred in people 20 to 49 years of age. However, this age group only represented 14.5 percent of the years of life saved by alcohol. By contrast, the group over 65 accounted for 15 percent of the total years of life lost, but 50 percent of the years of life saved. The authors conclude that young people "are more likely to die from drinking alcohol than from drinking", but older people are more likely to experience the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption. Although the conclusions are not explosive, they provide a more complete understanding of the impact of alcohol on health: Moderate alcohol consumption can benefit people of a certain age group, but excessive alcohol consumption is detrimental to everyone.
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