A new study has shown that harmful consumption of alcohol use is linked to an increased risk of cancers and injury.
Dr. Jason Connor and Wayne Hall of the Center for Youth Substance Abuse Research at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, said “More than sufficient evidence is available for governments to give increased public health priority to reducing alcohol-related disease burden in low-income and middle-income countries.”
Participants in the study came from 12 different countries with different levels of economic development.
The lower middle-income countries were China and Colombia, and the low-income countries represented in the study were India and Zimbabwe.
The study published in Lancet Journal included a total of 114,970 adults.
Lead author Andrew Smyth of the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), McMaster University in Canada said “Although current drinking was associated with a 24 per cent reduced risk of heart attack, there was no reduction in risk of mortality or stroke, and current drinking was associated with a 51 per cent increased risk of alcohol-related cancers and a 29 per cent increased risk of injury in current drinkers.”
The study recommended increased global awareness about the consequences of harmful alcohol use.