Is Alcohol Consumption More Helpful Than Harmful? It Depends on Your Age

Summary: Researchers report younger people are more likely to die from alcohol consumption, where as older people are more likely to see health benefits from moderate drinking.

Source: JSAD.

Studies of health effects of alcohol consumption may underestimate the risks of imbibing, particularly for younger people, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

The research demonstrates that although cohort studies–the type of observational investigations typically used to study health benefits and risks–sometimes show benefits from moderate alcohol consumption, they tend to enroll people age 50 and older. Studying people at this age range eliminates all those who have died before age 50 because of alcohol consumption.

Simply put, “deceased persons cannot be enrolled in cohort studies,” write the authors, led by Timothy Naimi, M.D., M.P.H., of the Boston Medical Center. “Those who are established drinkers at age 50 are ‘survivors’ of their alcohol consumption who [initially] might have been healthier or have had safer drinking patterns” compared with others.

In fact, more than 40% of overall deaths from alcohol occur before age 50, according to the study. This suggests that most current studies underestimate alcohol-related risk compared with what would be observed across the full age spectrum. Further, the study demonstrates that most study participants are not representative of all persons who begin to drink alcohol.

To obtain data for the current research, Naimi and his colleagues used the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact software application from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data used were derived from government statistics on cause of death and health benefits from 2006 to 2010 in the United States.

Naimi and colleagues found age was a large factor in deaths prevented by alcohol consumption. Some 35.8% of the total deaths caused by alcohol occurred in people ages 20 to 49. However, of the deaths determined to have been prevented by alcohol consumption, only 4.5% occurred in this younger age group.

Although those ages 65 and older saw a similar 35.0% of the mortality caused by drinking, 80% of the deaths that were prevented by alcohol consumption occurred in this group.

A somewhat similar pattern emerged when the researchers looked at years of potential life lost as a result of drinking. Of the overall years of life lost, 58.4% occurred in those ages 20 to 49. But this younger group saw only 14.5% of the years of life saved from drinking.

glass of alcohol
In fact, more than 40% of overall deaths from alcohol occur before age 50, according to the study. This suggests that most current studies underestimate alcohol-related risk compared with what would be observed across the full age spectrum. Further, the study demonstrates that most study participants are not representative of all persons who begin to drink alcohol. NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.

People 65 and older accounted for 15% of the overall years of life lost from alcohol consumption. However, more than 50% of the years of life saved occurred within this older group.

In general, their results show that younger people “are more likely to die from alcohol consumption than they are to die from a lack of drinking,” according to the authors, whereas older people are the ones most likely to see the health benefits of moderate drinking often mentioned in the news.

“This study adds to the literature questioning protective effects for alcohol on all-cause mortality,” the authors conclude. Nonetheless, they write that “most who choose to drink can do so with relatively low risk.”

About this neuroscience research article

Source: Jenny Eriksen Leary – JSAD
Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Abstract for “Alcohol, Age, and Mortality: Estimating Selection Bias Due to Premature Death” by Timothy S. Naimi , M.D., M.P.H., Lyndsey A. Stadtmueller , B.S.,Tanya Chikritzhs , Ph.D., Tim Stockwell , Ph.D., Jinhui Zhao , Ph.D., Annie Britton , Ph.D., Richard Saitz , M.D., M.P.H., & Adam Sherk , M.A in Journal of Studies on Alcohol & Drugs. Published February 28 2019.
doi:10.15288/jsad.2019.80.63

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]JSAD “Is Alcohol Consumption More Helpful Than Harmful? It Depends on Your Age.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 28 February 2019.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/age-alcohol-consumption-10835/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]JSAD (2019, February 28). Is Alcohol Consumption More Helpful Than Harmful? It Depends on Your Age. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved February 28, 2019 from https://neurosciencenews.com/age-alcohol-consumption-10835/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]JSAD “Is Alcohol Consumption More Helpful Than Harmful? It Depends on Your Age.” https://neurosciencenews.com/age-alcohol-consumption-10835/ (accessed February 28, 2019).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

Alcohol, Age, and Mortality: Estimating Selection Bias Due to Premature Death

Objective:
Alcohol use causes approximately 10% of deaths among adults ages 20–65 in the United States. Although previous research has demonstrated differential age-related risk relationships, it is difficult to estimate the magnitude of selection bias attributable to premature mortality based on existing cohort studies, the average age of which is greater than 50 years. The objective of our study was to assess the distribution of mortality-related harms and benefits from alcohol among adults ages 20 and older in comparison with the distribution among those older than age 50.

Method:
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Alcohol-Related Disease Impact software application from 2006–10 were used to determine the distribution of alcohol-attributable deaths (AADs) and the years of potential life lost (YPLLs) that was caused or prevented by alcohol for 54 conditions by 15-year age groupings (20–34, 35–49, 50–64, 65+) in the United States. We also determined the proportion of net deaths and YPLLs occurring in each age group, overall and by cause of death.

Results:
Adults ages 20–49 years experienced 35.8% of the deaths and 58.4% of the YPLLs caused by alcohol, whereas the same group accrued only 4.5% of AADs and 14.2% of YPLLs gained. Overall, 46.3% of the total net deaths and 64.7% of the net YPLLs occurred among those ages 20–49; adding net deaths occurring among those ages 20–49 to those occurring after age 50 would result in an 86.3% relative increase in net deaths.

Conclusions:
Because of premature mortality, alcohol-mortality associations based on cohort studies may underestimate negative health consequences compared with those observed among the general population.

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