Abstract

Chronic alcohol consumption is related to more than 200 disorders. Up until now, limits for low-risk use of alcohol were 24 g/ day for men and 12 g/ day for women. Recent epidemiologic studies have shown that any alcohol may be harmful. The aim of this review is to reassess the health risk of alcohol. There is alinear relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and mortality risk. No risk-free dose of alcohol exists. However, health risk varies not only with the amount of alcohol consumed but also with target organs, as well as individual genetic and non-genetic factors such as smoking, medication use, exposure to environmental toxins, and pre-existing disease that deteriorates with alcohol use. High-risk groups for the damaging effect of alcohol include children and adolescents, old people, and women. Diseases that are affected by alcohol even at alow dose include arterial hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia (extrasystole, arterial fibrillation), some liver diseases (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitisC, porphyria) as well as breast cancer. For these disorders, athreshold of low risk does not exist. Finally, in addition to breast cancer, alcohol is arisk factor for cancer of the oral cavity, the larynx, pharynx, oesophagus, liver, and colorectum. During pregnancy alcohol is completely forbidden. There is no such thing as arisk-free dose of alcohol.

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