Myth busted: No safe limits for alcohol intake

Chennai: The myth that occasional consumption of alcohol is safe and is within safe levels has been proven wrong by a recent study published in Lancet recently. The study reveals that there are no safe levels of alcohol consumption and the protective effect of alcohol in reducing heart disease risk is very less when compared to the overall health risks associated with its consumption.

An occasional glass of wine or beer can cause early death and increased health risks such as worsening of tuberculosis, self-harm and prostate cancer attributing to around 28 lakh deaths worldwide every year in 195 nations. The researchers of the study from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said that there is no safe level of alcohol.

Various researches show that light to moderate drinking reduces the risk of heart diseases. However, the researchers said that the protective factors of alcohol are outnumbered by the risks. The health risks associated with alcohol start off being small with one drink a day and ill-effects rise as they drink more. 

A drink or 10 grammes of alcohol increases the risk of around one of two dozen health problems by about half-a-percent. When compared to those who do not drink alcohol have a lesser risk of ailments than those who drink alcohol seven times per week. 

At the global level, additional risk of 0.5 percent among (once-a-day) drinkers corresponds to about 1,00,000 additional deaths each year, said researchers. The consumption of an average two drinks daily increases the health risks by seven percent than those who do not drink. The risk increases to 37 percent if the consumption of alcohol is five units per day.