A study conducted by researchers from several countries over 30 years revealed that moderate alcohol consumption in people over 40 years of age is beneficial to health, however, in general, it emphasizes that, despite the findings, alcohol intake is strongly discouraged.
According to the analysis, published by the scientific journal The Lanceta group of researchers undertook the task of analyzing the effects of alcohol among people between 15 and 95 years of age based on the Global Burden of Disease study.
This study on the effects of alcohol has not been done lightly as data has been taken from people in 204 countries from 1990 to 2020.
The analysis included 22 health indicators ranging from cardiovascular diseases, cancer and traffic accidents.
The results of the study, while not entirely positive, are encouraging in terms of moderate consumption of one to two glasses of wine for some members of the population aged 40 years and older, which could have some health benefits.
This, according to the article, is due to the fact that ethanol - the main ingredient of alcoholic beverages - increases the production of good cholesterol in the entodelium - the tissue that lines the inside of veins and arteries - which could be beneficial for cardiovascular diseases or type 2 diabetes.
The groups of people who could benefit from this exhaustive analysis are men between 40 and 64 years of age consuming a total of 1.69 glasses of wine and women 1.89 glasses.
However, as age increases, in those over 65 years of age, the margin of consumption increases, reaching a total of 3.19 glasses of wine in men and 3.51 in women.
Despite the above, it highlights the importance of alcohol consumption related to the loss of health due to diseases such as liver cirrhosis, breast cancer and tuberculosis. For this reason, its consumption is strongly discouraged.
In addition, the study emphasizes, the risks of alcohol burden vary by region and age.
It should be noted that, although alcohol consumption dates back some 10 million years, the health consequences of its consumption are also significant, since in 2020 alone, the consumption of these beverages was responsible for 78 million deaths worldwide and was the main risk factor for mortality among men aged 15 to 49 years, according to the study.
You may be interested in: Discrimination against older adults is on the rise