Dr. Sarah Wakeman

So if you want to try to understand what is the impact of low risk drinking, moderate drinking, higher risk drinking, you have to figure out how do you study that. So you need to follow population over time to see what happens. And then you need to figure out how do we isolate the effect of alcohol.

And so early on, there were lots of studies showing that low risk drinking or moderate drinking were actually healthy. I think I remember something about like a glass of red wine is really good for you, the antioxidants. I don't know if that's the red wine lobby telling us that.

And so early on, there were lots of studies showing that low risk drinking or moderate drinking were actually healthy. I think I remember something about like a glass of red wine is really good for you, the antioxidants. I don't know if that's the red wine lobby telling us that.

And so early on, there were lots of studies showing that low risk drinking or moderate drinking were actually healthy. I think I remember something about like a glass of red wine is really good for you, the antioxidants. I don't know if that's the red wine lobby telling us that.

One criticism of those studies showing that low risk drinking is healthy is that the group that is often used as sort of the comparison group are people that don't drink at all. But it turns out that many people who don't drink at all may not be drinking because they have chronic health problems or because they actually used to have an alcohol use disorder and they're now in remission or recovery.

One criticism of those studies showing that low risk drinking is healthy is that the group that is often used as sort of the comparison group are people that don't drink at all. But it turns out that many people who don't drink at all may not be drinking because they have chronic health problems or because they actually used to have an alcohol use disorder and they're now in remission or recovery.

One criticism of those studies showing that low risk drinking is healthy is that the group that is often used as sort of the comparison group are people that don't drink at all. But it turns out that many people who don't drink at all may not be drinking because they have chronic health problems or because they actually used to have an alcohol use disorder and they're now in remission or recovery.

And they may have health consequences that are leading to higher mortality compared to people who are drinking at a low risk or infrequent level. So a lot of the newer studies have actually used infrequent drinkers as the sort of control group or the comparison group. And I think that's really helpful to understand the data that way.

And they may have health consequences that are leading to higher mortality compared to people who are drinking at a low risk or infrequent level. So a lot of the newer studies have actually used infrequent drinkers as the sort of control group or the comparison group. And I think that's really helpful to understand the data that way.

And they may have health consequences that are leading to higher mortality compared to people who are drinking at a low risk or infrequent level. So a lot of the newer studies have actually used infrequent drinkers as the sort of control group or the comparison group. And I think that's really helpful to understand the data that way.

There was a really big study actually this year that looked at hundreds of thousands of people that had been surveyed since the 1990s all the way through the mid-2010s and did a really elegant job of trying to answer this question. And the things they did differently than other studies is first they controlled for other healthy behaviors, lifestyle behaviors, chronic conditions.

There was a really big study actually this year that looked at hundreds of thousands of people that had been surveyed since the 1990s all the way through the mid-2010s and did a really elegant job of trying to answer this question. And the things they did differently than other studies is first they controlled for other healthy behaviors, lifestyle behaviors, chronic conditions.

There was a really big study actually this year that looked at hundreds of thousands of people that had been surveyed since the 1990s all the way through the mid-2010s and did a really elegant job of trying to answer this question. And the things they did differently than other studies is first they controlled for other healthy behaviors, lifestyle behaviors, chronic conditions.

Because one question is a person who's drinking a glass of wine a day, maybe they're also running every day and, you know, doing other sort of health promoting behaviors. And maybe that person who's chosen not to drink at all has lung cancer. And that's the reason they're not drinking. And so they actually controlled for all of that.

Because one question is a person who's drinking a glass of wine a day, maybe they're also running every day and, you know, doing other sort of health promoting behaviors. And maybe that person who's chosen not to drink at all has lung cancer. And that's the reason they're not drinking. And so they actually controlled for all of that.

Because one question is a person who's drinking a glass of wine a day, maybe they're also running every day and, you know, doing other sort of health promoting behaviors. And maybe that person who's chosen not to drink at all has lung cancer. And that's the reason they're not drinking. And so they actually controlled for all of that.

And they did see that in the low risk category, there seemed to be a slight decrease in mortality. And it was not true for cancer. So any amount of alcohol is associated with an increased cancer risk. And that's a really important thing to know, especially if someone has a personal family history of cancer. Breast cancer is one that's strongly associated with alcohol use.

And they did see that in the low risk category, there seemed to be a slight decrease in mortality. And it was not true for cancer. So any amount of alcohol is associated with an increased cancer risk. And that's a really important thing to know, especially if someone has a personal family history of cancer. Breast cancer is one that's strongly associated with alcohol use.

And they did see that in the low risk category, there seemed to be a slight decrease in mortality. And it was not true for cancer. So any amount of alcohol is associated with an increased cancer risk. And that's a really important thing to know, especially if someone has a personal family history of cancer. Breast cancer is one that's strongly associated with alcohol use.

And so factoring that in as you're making your decisions about alcohol is really important.