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Alcohol: No safe dose
14 janvier 2026
By Ana Espino | Published on January 14, 2026 | 3 min readAlcohol use is a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality worldwide, contributing to more than 60 diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, liver cirrhosis, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite this well-documented burden, international recommendations regarding “moderate” levels of alcohol consumption remain controversi
By Ana Espino | Published on January 14, 2026 | 3 min read
Alcohol use is a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality worldwide, contributing to more than 60 diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, liver cirrhosis, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite this well-documented burden, international recommendations regarding “moderate” levels of alcohol consumption remain controversial, sometimes conveying contradictory messages about potential protective effects of low doses. This ambiguity undermines the definition of safe consumption thresholds.
One of the major challenges lies in the comparative assessment of the alcohol-attributable burden according to sex, age, world regions, and levels of consumption. The objective of this study, published in The Lancet, was to analyze alcohol consumption and its health impact in 195 countries between 1990 and 2016, using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, in order to better inform public health policies.
Alcohol use is a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality worldwide, contributing to more than 60 diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, liver cirrhosis, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite this well-documented burden, international recommendations regarding “moderate” levels of alcohol consumption remain controversial, sometimes conveying contradictory messages about potential protective effects of low doses. This ambiguity undermines the definition of safe consumption thresholds.
One of the major challenges lies in the comparative assessment of the alcohol-attributable burden according to sex, age, world regions, and levels of consumption. The objective of this study, published in The Lancet, was to analyze alcohol consumption and its health impact in 195 countries between 1990 and 2016, using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, in order to better inform public health policies.
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Scientific reference
Griswold, M. G., et al. (2018). Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The Lancet, 392(10152), 1015-1035
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