Lancet study: "..the safest level of (alcohol) drinking is none."

[DanT]

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2016 report just published in Lancet included an interesting observational epidemiological study assessing the public health impact of alcohol, which found that the safest level of drinking is none. Here's the conclusion from that report

Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for disease burden worldwide, accounting for nearly 10% of global deaths among populations aged 15–49 years, and poses dire ramifications for future population health in the absence of policy action today. The widely held view of the health benefits of alcohol needs revising, particularly as improved methods and analyses continue to show how much alcohol use contributes to global death and disability. Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none. This level is in conflict with most health guidelines, which espouse health benefits associated with consuming up to two drinks per day. Alcohol use contributes to health loss from many causes and exacts its toll across the lifespan, particularly among men. Policies that focus on reducing population-level consumption will be most effective in reducing the health loss from alcohol use.

Here's a link to the BBC report on the study, which has some useful background and commentary: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-45283401

And, finally, here are a couple of critical commentaries, one from Cambridge University's David Spiegelhalter discussing the absolute risk associated with moderate drinking and alternative interpretations of the study results: https://medium.com/wintoncentre/the-...n-2ae8cb006a4a
and another from HealthNewsReview reviewing important limitations in observational research: https://www.healthnewsreview.org/201...el-of-alcohol/