Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 May 24;13(6):522.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph13060522.

Alcoholic Beverage Consumption and Chronic Diseases

Yue Zhou  1 , Jie Zheng  2 , Sha Li  3 , Tong Zhou  4 , Pei Zhang  5 , Hua-Bin Li  6   7
Affiliations
Review

Alcoholic Beverage Consumption and Chronic Diseases

Yue Zhou et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Epidemiological and experimental studies have consistently linked alcoholic beverage consumption with the development of several chronic disorders, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and obesity. The impact of drinking is usually dose-dependent, and light to moderate drinking tends to lower risks of certain diseases, while heavy drinking tends to increase the risks. Besides, other factors such as drinking frequency, genetic susceptibility, smoking, diet, and hormone status can modify the association. The amount of ethanol in alcoholic beverages is the determining factor in most cases, and beverage types could also make an influence. This review summarizes recent studies on alcoholic beverage consumption and several chronic diseases, trying to assess the effects of different drinking patterns, beverage types, interaction with other risk factors, and provide mechanistic explanations.

Keywords: alcoholic beverage; cancer; cardiovascular disease; diabetes; obesity; wine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Association between 13.5 g/day of alcohol consumption and disease risks.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2014. [(accessed on 29 March 2016)]. Available online: http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/
    1. Liang Y., Mente A., Yusuf S., Gao P., Sleight P., Zhu J., Fagard R., Lonn E., Teo K.K. Alcohol consumption and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation among people with cardiovascular disease. CMAJ. 2012;184:E857–E866. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.120412. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jin M., Cai S., Guo J., Zhu Y., Li M., Yu Y., Zhang S., Chen K. Alcohol drinking and all cancer mortality: A meta-analysis. Ann. Oncol. 2013;24:807–816. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mds508. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wang Y., Duan H., Yang H., Lin J. A pooled analysis of alcohol intake and colorectal cancer. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Med. 2015;8:6878–6889. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blomster J.I., Zoungas S., Chalmers J., Li Q., Chow C.K., Woodward M., Mancia G., Poulter N., Williams B., Harrap S., et al. The relationship between alcohol consumption and vascular complications and mortality in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2014;37:1353–1359. doi: 10.2337/dc13-2727. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources