Worldwide Study on Health Effects of Moderate Drinking Welco

Worldwide Study on Health Effects of Moderate Drinking Welcomed

Wellington, October 9 2016

The announcement of a worldwide six year clinical trial focusing on the health effects of moderate drinking has been welcomed by Spirits New Zealand today. The study, funded by the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism will, for the first time ever, compare the health of moderate drinkers versus non-drinkers.

“Although many recognised studies have shown that moderate drinking has notable positive health effects no study has followed a randomised group of abstainers and moderate consumers and looked at comparative health impacts,” said Spirits New Zealand Chief Executive, Robert Brewer.

Mr Brewer says it is widely understood that people who drink moderately - which is generally three or less standard drinks a day – show benefits in a range of areas including heart function, diabetes and lifespan compared with non-drinkers.

“The problem has been that long term randomised trials are very expensive to undertake but are seen almost as the ‘gold standard’ of research. The results of the announced study will, therefore, become the new benchmark for understanding what a ‘safe level’ of drinking actually is,” Brewer said.

The study will follow 7,800 people aged 50 years or more and focus on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and mortality.

“What is clear is that moderate drinking can be part of a modern healthy lifestyle but over consumption has many notable negative health impacts. This study, once complete, will go a long way to defining what moderate consumption is and how it can benefit the drinker in the areas studied.”

Ends

Note:

Announcement can be found at https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=9197811&icde=31351721

Also note that this announcement was preceded by a paper published in the journal of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. This paper defined the need for, benefits of and the process by which such a study could be undertaken. This paper can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acer.13231/full

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