Benefits grudgingly dealt with
Nowhere is this more evident than in the way in which the authors
deal with drinking and health. They dwell on the harm caused by
drinking at inordinate length and sometimes make extravagant claims
such as ‘a drinking occasion can make a small contribution to
a death from cancer many years later.’ However, the benefits are
grudgingly and inaccurately dealt with. The principle conclusion
of APPG and its clone publication, the ‘European Alcohol Action
Plan’, is that the message to the individual and society is outstandingly
clear: less drinking is always better.
Less drinking is not always ‘better’
This conclusion is simply not tenable and there is an abundance
of scientific evidence which contradicts it. There is not, of
course, a steadily increasing benefit with steadily increasing
consumption, but it has been established beyond any doubt that
increases in consumption starting from nil decrease the risk of
premature death. At higher levels this effect is reversed so that
the risk at first becomes equal to the that of abstainers, and
then continues to increase as consumption increases: this is frequently
referred to a U-shaped relationship.
In its determination to play down the benefits of moderate drinking,
the APPG panel contends that it does not result in any substantial
reduction in risk in men under 35 years of age and in pre-menopausal
women. As such women are concerned, this contention is contradicted
by a very large study of nurses' health in the USA. Until recently,
very little research had been done on men under 35 years of age
and therefore any opinions expressed in the absence of such research
were speculative and without any scientific basis.
New research includes younger people
However, this research deficiency has been rectified. There is
an on-going study in the UK of all people born in England, Scotland
and Wales during one week in March 1958 – usually referred to
as the 1958 birth cohort. Research among 9,605 people in this
cohort at 23-year and 33-year follow-up has been directed at relating
individual health status with alcohol consumption. The recently
published results are unequivocal: there are higher rates of ill-health
and psychological distress among non-drinkers and heavy drinkers
than among moderate drinkers, who were defined as women drinking
6 to 20 units per week, and men drinking 11 to 35 units per week.
It would therefore appear that the U-shaped relationship between
alcohol and mortality in older age groups which has been extensively
proven, is preceded by similar relations between alcohol and ill
health evident by the age of 33.
Another nail in the coffin
This important research is another nail in the coffin of those
advocacy groups and campaigning organisations which are dedicated
to achieving an overall reduction in alcohol consumption. But
it is unlikely to shake their conviction that less drinking is
always best. They are like the parson in Goldsmith's deserted
village who ’e'en though vanquished he could argue still.’ And
of course, despite all the evidence, there are still those who
believe the earth is flat!
George Winstanley was Director of Strategic Affairs at the Portman
Group from 1990 to 1995. He is a member of the AIM Editorial Board
