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Blood pressure and the risk of stroke increase gradually as alcohol consumption and previous claims that one or two glasses a day could protect against stroke are not true , according to the results of a major genetic study.
The research, which used data from a cohort of 160,000 Chinese adults, many of whom are unable to drink alcohol because of genetic intolerance, found that people who drink moderately – consuming 10 to 20 grams alcohol daily – increase their risk of stroke by 10 to 15 percent.
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The study reveals that for heavy drinkers who consume at least four drinks a day, blood pressure rises dramatically and the risk of stroke increases by about 35%.
"The key message here is that, at least with respect to strokes, there is no protective effect of moderate alcohol," said Zhengming Chen, professor at Nuffield's Department of Population Health. at Oxford University, who led the research. "The genetic evidence shows that the protective effect is not real."
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 2.3 billion people in the world drink alcohol, the average daily consumption per person being 33 grams of alcohol pure per day. That's roughly equivalent to two glasses of 150ml wine, a big bottle of beer (750ml) or two glasses of 40ml of spirits.
This latest study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, focuses on people of East Asian descent, many of whom possess genetic variants that limit tolerance to alcohol.
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Because variants have significant specific effects on alcohol, but do not affect other lifestyle-related factors, such as diet, smoking, economic status or education, scientists can use to determine the causal effects of alcohol consumption.
"The use of genetics is a new way (…) to determine whether moderate consumption is actually protective or slightly harmful," said Iona Millwood, an Oxford epidemiologist, who co-directed the study. "Our genetic analyzes have helped us understand cause-and-effect relationships."
The research team – including scientists from Oxford and Peking Universities and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences – said it would be impossible to conduct a study of this type among Western populations because almost no one There are variants of the alcohol intolerance gene.
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But the conclusions on the biological effects of alcohol should be the same for all people of the world, they said.
The WHO has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world, although it has dropped about 10% since 2010, according to WHO, and current trends point to a global increase in per capita consumption over the next ten years.
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