A recent ‘Burden of Proof’ study summarised and evaluated the evidence on alcohol consumption’s effects on coronary artery disease (ischemic heart disease) has been published in the journal ‘Nature Communications'. The study found that reduced heart disease risk was linked to low to moderate drinking.
This study used a method to pool estimates of 122 observational studies published between 1970 and January 202. The authors found a J-shaped relationship, which shows that consumption of up to about 50g a day, was associated with a lower risk of coronary artery disease morbidity and mortality and heart attack deaths. In New Zealand, 50g equates to five standard drinks a day, which is higher than safe drinking guidelines.
The size of the decrease differs by study design: a five percent decrease in risk among cohort studies and a 13 percent decrease in risk among case-control studies. They also found that the four included Mendelian randomization (MR) studies, which use genetic proxies instead of measuring alcohol consumption, do not show evidence of a relationship with coronary artery disease risk.
The New Zealand Ministry of Health guidelines for safe drinking are two standard drinks a day for women, and three standard drinks a day for men, with at least two alcohol-free days each week. A standard drink contains 10g of alcohol.
“This further confirms a large body of research that all things being equal, those that drink lightly to moderately live longer than those that do not drink at all”, said NZABC executive director Virginia Nicholls.
The J-curve showed that in many different populations, researchers have found people who drink light to moderate levels of beverage alcohol have a lower risk of death (all-cause mortality) during the period being studied than people who do not drink at all or those who drink hazardously.
The findings from this Burden of Proof study have been fed into the larger Global Burden of Disease (GBD) framework for calculating alcohol-attributable coronary artery disease morbidity and mortality. They are reflected in the GBD data portal and the most recent GBD 2021 Study Collaborators publication on attributable risk factors in The Lancet.
The NZ Health survey said that 84 percent of NZ adults (more than four out of five of us) drink beer, wine and spirits responsibly. This is an increase of three percent from last year (81 percent 2022).
The NZ Health survey also showed the lowest rate of hazardous drinking since the survey began – sitting at 16 percent of the adult population (18.7 percent in 2022). This reduction is significant and shows the change in the way that consumers drink. Over the past year this equates to 110,000 fewer kiwis drinking in a harmful way.
“It is important that everyone must evaluate the risks they face each day to inform their personal choices, from the foods they eat to the activities they enjoy and, of course, anyone with questions should speak to their healthcare professionals to better understand the impact of drinking on their individual health.”
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