According to one study, alcohol, even a drink a day, increases the risk of stroke

One or two drinks a day alone can increase the risk of high blood pressure and stroke, according to a new study, debunking the myth that moderate consumption of alcohol could protect against these risks.

Published Thursday in the British medical journal The Lancet, the massive genetic study of 160,000 adults adds to the growing research that alcohol can have lasting health consequences.

Previous studies had suggested that moderate drinkers had a lower risk of stroke and heart attack compared to non-drinkers, according to the study's authors.

However, it was unclear whether this was due to the fact that the moderate consumption of alcohol reduced the risk or because the non-drinkers had other health problems, said the authors.

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For cerebrovascular accidents, research now refutes the claim that moderate consumption can have a protective effect.

"There is no protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption against strokes.Even moderate consumption of alcohol increases the chances of suffering a stroke," Zhengming said. Chen from Oxford University, one of the co-authors of the study, in a statement. "The results of the heart attack were less well defined, so we plan to collect more evidence."

The researchers conducted their study by examining the group of Chinese adults, because of a common genetic intolerance to alcohol in this population that prevents a lot of drinking. These intolerances are not related to other lifestyle-related factors, such as smoking, and can therefore explain how alcohol causes these health effects, rather than simply being associated with them, have said the authors.

Four glasses a day increased the risk of stroke by 35% and no protective effect was demonstrated for mild to moderate consumption, according to research.

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"The use of genetics is an innovative way to evaluate the effects of alcohol on health and to determine if moderate consumption is really a protection or if it is slightly harmful." Our genetic analyzes helped us understand cause-and-effect relationships, "Iona Millwood. from Oxford University, lead author of the study, said in a statement.

Alcohol is one of the leading risk factors for death and disease in the world, according to a 2018 study conducted by The Lancet. The study found that it is associated with 2.8 million deaths each year and the seventh risk factor for premature death and disability worldwide in 2016.

According to an analysis by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the number of deaths attributable to alcohol has increased by 35% between 2007 and 2017. The death rate has increased 24%.

Contribution: Jayne O & Donnell and Ashley May

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