Mise au point sur la consommation d’alcool en France, ses conséquences sur la santé et la dose recommandée
2021
Hill, Catherine
Alcohol consumption has been traditionally high in France, with serious consequences on the health of its population. We show that this consumption decreased from 55 grams of pure ethanol per adult per day in 1955 to 25 grams in 2019 which is still quite high. Alcohol has been estimated to have caused, in 2015, 8 % of the cancers including 15 % of breast cancers, and 7 % of the overall mortality, mostly from cancer, cardiovascular and digestive disease, and accidents. We present the main results of a study in genetic epidemiology conducted in China, country with a high frequency of aldehyde dehydrogenase and alcohol dehydrogenase gene variants that are associated with discomfort when drinking alcohol. This study indicates that the apparent beneficial effect of a low dose of alcohol on some cardiovascular risks is very likely to be an artifact, since it disappears when studied on the basis of Mendelian randomization. We present the current French recommendations on alcohol consumption, and discuss these in the light of a meta-analysis which examined 83 prospective studies on a total of about 600 000 persons interviewed on their alcohol consumption and followed thereafter to observe their overall and cause-specific mortality. This study disproves the existence of an optimal dose of alcohol that would be associated with a reduced risk of death. The overall evidence available today justifies the World Health Organisation recommendation for alcohol consumption: « Less is better ».
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