Study finds alcohol consumption increases risk of 61 diseases

Researchers from Oxford Population Health and Peking University conducted a study to demonstrate how alcohol intake may increase the risk of different diseases in populations around the world.

Hyderabad: Do you indulge in alcohol? Then there is some bad news for you. A recent study has uncovered some alarming findings regarding alcohol intake.

Let’s dive into the details

Researchers from Oxford Population Health and Peking University conducted a study to demonstrate how alcohol intake may increase the risk of different diseases in populations around the world.

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The researchers found that alcohol intake may increase the risk of 61 diseases in men, including 33 that were previously not linked to alcohol consumption.

Of 61 diseases, 28 diseases were already linked to alcohol intake,  but the study has now revealed that alcohol consumption is linked with the remaining 33 ailments as well. These newly identified diseases include cataracts, gout, stomach issues, and certain fractures.

They investigated data from more than 512,000 adults (41% men) and also considered their genetic information to determine the increased risk of diseases.

The research titled ‘Alcohol consumption and risks of more than 200 diseases in Chinese men’ was published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Among male drinkers, 62% reported drinking daily and 37% said they engage in heavy episodic drinking.

Men who consume alcohol regularly experienced more frequent hospital stays and are at a higher risk of developing various diseases compared to those who drank occasionally.

Also, men involved in heavy binge episodes every day or who consume alcohol outside meal times faced an increased risk of liver cirrhosis.

According to a study, men who had four drinks per day experienced a 14% increased risk of alcohol-related diseases. Additionally, the risk of diseases not previously reported rose by 6% in individuals who consumed alcohol at this level.

Further genetic analysis of the sample size revealed that a higher intake of alcohol paved the way for an increased risk of stroke.  Interestingly, no significant increase in the risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was observed.

The women in this study played a valuable role in the research. Their inclusion as a control group in the genetic analysis confirmed that the excess disease risks in men are caused by alcohol consumption rather than changes in DNA sequences.

Unlike earlier studies, this study didn’t find any benefits associated with moderate drinking.

The researchers also highlighted the importance of further investigation to confirm whether alcohol is the primary cause of some of the newly identified ailments.