just-drinks authors and correspondents

Columns by International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research

Critiques from the International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research

The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research hosts forums that look at research conducted around the world on the relationship between alcohol consumption and health.

Articles by International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research

Does moderate alcohol consumption in later life reduce the risk of mortality? - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 232 4 September 2019

There are well-known problems inherent in most observational studies of alcohol and health. As well as having to rely on self-reporting of intake, these include single-time point consumption assessments, inadequate confounder adjustments, accounting for reverse causation, selection bias, short follow-up, residual confounding and lacking information on chronic health conditions that may mediate the association between alcohol consumption and mortality.

---

What effect does alcohol consumption have on obesity? - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 231 21 August 2019

While alcoholic beverages contain calories that are absorbed, the association between alcohol intake and body weight and obesity is unclear. Limited clinical trials have not confirmed a positive association between alcohol intake and weight, while some epidemiologic studies, including prospective cohort studies, show that regular moderate drinkers are less likely to be obese than abstainers.

---

What effect do beverages have on developing diabetes? - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 230 20 August 2019

Of all lifestyle factors that relate to health and disease, probably the most difficult ones to evaluate are dietary factors, including foods, nutrients and beverages.

---

How alcohol can affect the development of colorectal cancer - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 229 11 July 2019

While heavy alcohol consumption is recognised as a contributor to the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), an increasing number of studies suggest that moderate alcohol consumption may not have an adverse effect on the risk of CRC, or even decrease the risk.

---

Could alcohol consumption affect the onset of pulmonary disease? - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 227 29 May 2019

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health problem and cause of death throughout the world. While cigarette smoking is known to be the most important risk factor, there is limited data available on the relation of alcohol consumption to the condition.

---

How red wine can reduce risk of lethal prostate cancer - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 226 16 May 2019

In an analysis from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, investigators evaluated the relation of alcohol consumption in their over 45,000 study participants to the development of lethal prostate cancer. They related alcohol first to the overall risk of prostate cancer among all subjects, then focused on the 5,182 men who developed non-metastatic prostate cancer to judge their risk of developing lethal prostate cancer or mortality.

---

Can consuming alcohol reduce risk of chronic kidney disease? - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 225 8 April 2019

While many studies have found that moderate consumers of alcohol tend to be at a lower risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD), potential mechanisms for such an effect are unclear. A recent large prospective, population-based, multi-cultural study provides important additional data on the effects of alcohol intake on the initial diagnosis of CKD over many years.

---

Could consuming alcohol help with diabetes? - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 224 12 March 2019

Diabetes mellitus is an increasingly-common condition throughout the world, related closely to increases in obesity and ageing of populations. Scientific data from well-conducted cohort studies have demonstrated for decades that moderate consumers of alcohol tend to have a considerably lower risk of developing diabetes in the first place. Meanwhile, diabetics who consume moderate amounts of alcohol are, in comparison with abstainers, shown to be at much lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

---

Does alcohol consumption accelerate the chances of developing coronary heart disease? - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 222 21 December 2018

In an attempt to judge the effects of alcohol on the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), a recent report carried out analyses using a sample of subjects from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol & Related Conditions III (NESARC-III). The authors based their exposure to current alcohol use on a single assessment at baseline of self-reported consumption during the past year, when the subjects were an average of 38.9 years of age.

---

Which alcohol category is better for avoiding stomach cancer? - International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research Critique 221 20 November 2018

There have been conflicting results from studies of the association between alcohol intake and the risk of gastric cancer. Some of the differences among studies have related to mixing subjects from Western countries with those from Asia, where dietary patterns, lifestyle factors, drinking patterns and types of alcohol consumed differ from those among Western populations.