The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence fights the stigma and the disease of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

NCADD News Release

For More Information, Contact: Ames Sweet, Director of Communications 212/269-7797, ext. 16

For Immediate Release: January 22, 2003

SWIZZLE STICK STIRS UP DEBATE OVER HEALTH BENEFITS OF ALCOHOL A report in the January 9, 2003 New England Journal of Medicine has stirred up a long-standing controversy over alcohol's health benefits and spawned a considerable amount of media attention. The report, entitled "Roles of Drinking Pattern and Type of Alcohol Consumed in Coronary Heart Disease in Men," draws the conclusion that consumption of one or two drinks of alcohol at least three to five times per week decreases the risk of myocardial infarction among men. Yet, with increased consumption of alcohol come increased health risks. "Regardless of the health benefits cited in this report," says Robert Morse, MD, Chairperson of NCADD's Medical/Scientific Committee, "we caution that certain categories of people should not drink at all: pregnant women, recovering alcoholics, those with medical disorders known to be worsened by alcohol, and those taking certain medicines or suffering certain psychiatric illnesses. Further, we believe it hazardous to 'recommend' or 'prescribe' drinking as a preventive measure, since for many alcohol is a dangerous drug of addiction." Nicholas Pace, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at New York University Medical Center who is also on the committee, agrees. "The thing that really concerns me is the fact that we know people who abuse alcohol are in denial, and people tend to underestimate how much they really drink." According to Dr. Pace, it is "dangerous to promote the notion that alcohol consumption is a healthy practice. One should keep in mind the tremendous number of medical complications that alcohol, even in meager amounts, can cause." The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence has long been interested in research focused on the effects of alcohol - some that are positive and some that are clearly negative - and has responded in the past to similar studies highlighting alcohol's various health benefits. NCADD recognizes that while there are some benefits in moderate drinking, defined as no more than 2 drinks a day for men and no more than 1 drink a day for women (a drink is defined as 12 oz. of regular beer, 5 oz. of wine, or 1.5 oz. of distilled spirits), the certain medical detriments of alcohol need to remain in the forefront of any discussion about alcohol and health. As noted in an editorial by Ira J. Goldberg, MD, that accompanied the report in the New England Journal of Medicine, "There is insufficient information to encourage patients who do not drink alcohol to start. The data on alcohol and cardiovascular disease are still correlative, whereas the toxic effects of alcohol are well-established." Dr. Goldberg continues, "If alcohol were a newly discovered drug (instead of a drink dating back to the dawn of human history), we can be sure that no pharmaceutical company would develop it to prevent cardiovascular disease. Nor would many physicians use a therapy that might reduce the rate of myocardial infarction by 25 to 50 percent, but that would result in thousands of additional deaths per year due to cancer, motor vehicle accidents, and liver disease." The downside of alcohol consumption is well-chronicled, with about 18 million Americans suffering from alcohol problems, almost half of all traffic fatalities being alcohol-related, and alcohol contributing to illness in each of the three top causes of death: heart disease, cancer and stroke. The health benefits of alcohol are less certain. According to Dr. David Lewis, a member of the Medical/Scientific Committee, "Alcohol may indeed be a 'health food,' however it is a health food for a very limited number of people." Additionally, some of the debate centers on the term "moderate drinking," says Max Schneider, MD, another member of the committee. "We need to be exact in our dosing statements. If a little pepper is good, it does not necessarily follow that a lot of pepper is better. As a physician, the report is interesting," Dr. Schneider continues. "How it will be interpreted by the public is a frightening question." The report contains a number of caveats, including this closing comment, "We encourage adults to discuss alcohol use with their physicians and together make individualized decisions about appropriate consumption." NCADD believes this to be good advice and supports this conclusion. For more information, visit www.ncadd.org or contact Ames Sweet, Director of Communications, via email communications@ncadd.org or at 212/269-7797, ext. 16. ###

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

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