The lastest scientific evidence shows that any amount of alcohol use, even low-doses, can harm cardiovascular health. The latest policy brief by the World Heart Federation calls for urgent and decisive action to tackle the unprecedented rise in alcohol-related death and disability worldwide.
A common misconception related to alcohol use is that low dose use protects the heart. It is a misconception the alcohol industry perpetuates through funding biased research, spreading misinformation, and misrepresenting the evidence base. The alcohol industry also promotes low dose alcohol consumption in their “moderate” and “responsible” alcohol use campaigns.
No amount of alcohol is good for the heart, finds new World Heart Federation Policy Brief
The World Heart Federation has released a policy brief establishing that no amount of alcohol is good for the heart. The brief calls for urgent and decisive action to tackle the unprecedented rise in alcohol-related death and disability worldwide.
The portrayal of alcohol as necessary for a vibrant social life has diverted attention from the harms of alcohol use, as have the frequent and widely publicised claims that moderate [alcohol use], such as a glass of red wine a day, can offer protection against cardiovascular disease,” said Monika Arora, Member of the WHF Advocacy Committee and co-author of the brief, as per WHF website.
These claims are at best misinformed and at worst an attempt by the alcohol industry to mislead the public about the danger of their product.”
Monika Arora, member of the WHF Advocacy Committee, co-author of the brief
Alcohol products harm overall health
- In 2019, more than 2.4 million people died because of alcohol.
- This accounts for 4.3% of all deaths globally and 12.6% of deaths in men aged 15 to 49.
- Alcohol use is a major preventable risk factor for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancer, digestive diseases, and intentional and unintentional injuries, and for several infectious diseases.
Alcohol products harm the heart
The studies included in the brief show that even small amounts of alcohol can increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease, including:
- Coronary disease,
- Stroke,
- Heart failure,
- Hypertensive heart disease,
- Cardiomyopathy,
- Atrial fibrillation, and
- Aneurysm.
Studies which show that low doses of alcohol use is good for the heart have largely been observational research, which fails to account for other factors, such as pre-existing conditions and a history of alcoholism in those considered to be “abstinent”, these studies have inconsistent results and/or have been funded by the alcohol industry which has a clear conflict of interest.
The policy brief further points out the heavy social and economic burden caused by the products and practices of the alcohol industry. These include motor vehicle accidents, injuries, family problems, and cost to health systems, burden on criminal justice system, out of pocket expenditure and productivity losses.
Alcohol and heart disease – the scientific state of the art
The evidence is growing stronger and stronger, showing that any amount of alcohol use is bad for cardiovascular health. Even low dose alcohol increases health risks such as for the heart, compared to not having alcohol at all.
The evidence is growing stronger and stronger, showing that any amount of alcohol use is bad for cardiovascular health. Even low dose alcohol increases health risks such as for the heart, compared to not having alcohol at all.
Big Alcohol manufactures doubt about alcohol and heart disease
Given the new and growing scientific evidence proving alcohol’s negative effects on cardiovascular health, it is important to find out what kind of influence the alcohol industry has on research indicating cardio-protective effects of alcohol.
A brand new research analysis of systematic reviews on cardiovascular disease and alcohol exposed that alcohol industry funding or history of funding skewed the results in favor of alcohol industry interests.
The alcohol industry funds social aspects and public relations organizations to mis-represent the evidence on cardiovascular effects of low dose (“moderate”) alcohol consumption.
The findings of the study expose that alcohol industry funding or history of funding skewed the results of reviews in favor of the alcohol industry.
The authors state that this analysis could have missed research where alcohol industry connections were deliberately hidden such as in the case with the tobacco industry. It could also have missed conflicts of interest which were beyond the declaration period i.e. three years. Therefore, an even higher proportion of reviews which show health protective effects of alcohol may have been affected by the alcohol industry, but not discovered in this analysis.
Studying broader cardiovascular outcomes – as alcohol industry-connected research reviews have done – could bias the reviews. Prof. Jürgen Rehm has suggested that selecting broad outcomes renders reviews meaningless.
Another recent study by Peake and colleagues published in the European Journal of Public Health found that alcohol industry-funded health organizations misrepresent the evidence on cardiovascular effects of low-dose (“moderate”) alcohol consumption.
This idea [that alcohol may be good for the heart] has been assiduously promoted by the alcohol industry for whom it looks clearly important to political strategies. This study demonstrates that there is a need not only to resolve the long running controversy, but also to pay attention to the actions of the alcohol industry in influencing the science,” conclude Su Golder and Jim McCambridge, the authors of the research analysis on alcohol, cardiovascular disease and industry funding, as per Science Direct.
Su Golder and Jim McCambridge, the authors of this research analysis
Mendelian Randomization Study challenges the concept that low-dose alcohol is cardioprotective
The cardioprotective hypothesis for ‘moderate’ alcohol consumption is plagued by confounding, selection bias and increasingly implausible biological mechanisms, and the scientific pillars on which it is based are not holding up.
The findings of the Mendelian Randomization Study challenge the concept that low-dose alcohol is cardioprotective.
The upshot is that the research literature suggesting cardioprotection is largely based on studies of healthy survivors who have not died from other competing causes.
