Drinking any amount of alcohol can put you at risk of developing 60 diseases, including many that were not previously connected to boozing, a recent study has found.
Alcohol consumption accounted for about three million deaths worldwide in 2016 and as part of a major study in China, researchers have now analysed the risk involved with drinking booze.
The harmful effects of heavy drinking for certain diseases including liver cirrhosis, stroke and several types of cancer are well known, but few studies have assessed the impact of alcohol on an extensive range of diseases.
Oxford Population Health and Peking University published a new study last month focused on the long-term effects of consuming alcohol.
Assessing information from China's Biobank systems, researchers found that "among men, alcohol intake was positively associated with 61 diseases, including 33 not defined by the World Health Organization as alcohol-related."
Gout, cataract, certain fractures, and gastric ulcers are among the new diseases that are now being linked to regular alcohol consumption (at least one drink a week).
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, found that men who drank alcohol regularly had a significantly higher risk of developing any disease and experienced more frequent hospitalisations compared to men who had only drunk alcohol occasionally.
Some drinking patterns such as drinking daily or "binge" episodes particularly increased the risks of certain diseases, particularly liver cirrhosis, scientists found.
Study author Pek Kei Im said: "Alcohol consumption is adversely related to a much wider range of diseases than has previously been established, and our findings show these associations are likely to be causal."
Professor Liming Li, a senior author and CKB co-PI from Peking University, said: "Levels of alcohol consumption are rising in China, particularly among men.
"This large collaborative study demonstrates a need to strengthen alcohol control policies in China."
Iona Millwood, Associate Professor at Oxford Population Health and a senior author of the study, said: "It is becoming clear that the harmful use of alcohol is one of the most important risk factors for poor health, both in China and globally."
Diseases linked to alcohol consumption
- Tuberculosis
- Laryngeal cancer
- Oesophageal cancer
- Liver cancer
- Uncertain neoplasm
- Colon cancer
- Lung cancer
- Rectal cancer
- Other cancer
- Lip, oral cavity and pharynx cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Other anaemias
- Purpura and other haemorrhagic conditions
- Other metabolic disorders
- Diabetes melitus
- Less common psychiatric and behavioural conditions combined
- Epilepsy
- Transient cerebral ischaemic attacks
- Cataract
- Phlebitis and thrombophlebitis
- Cardiomyopathy
- Intracerebral haemorrhage
- Sequelae of cerebrovascular disease
- Hypertensive heart disease
- Essential (primary) hypertension
- Cerebral infarction
- Complications of heart disease
- Stroke, not specified
- Occlusion and stenosis of cerebral arteries
- Occlusion and stenosis of precerebral arteries
- Other cerebrovascular diseases
- Chronic ischaemic heart disease
- Less common circulatory diseases combined
- Unspecified chronic bronchitis
- Other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Pneumonia
- Alcoholic liver disease
- Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver
- Other inflammatory liver diseases
- Abscess of anal and rectal regions
- Gastro−oesophageal reflux disease
- Gastric ulcer
- Other diseases of digestive system
- Other diseases of liver
- Pancreatitis
- Other local infections (skin/subcutaneous tissue)
- Osteonecrosis
- Gout
- Other arthrosis
- Abnormal results of function studies
- Malaise and fatigue
- Other ill−defined/unspecified mortality causes
- Unknown/unspecified morbidity causes
- Fracture of shoulder and upper arm
- Fracture of femur
- Fracture of rib(s)/sternum/thoracic spine
- Less common injury, poisoning and other external causes combined
- Intentional self−harm
- Falls
- Transport accidents
