philcain

Recent headlines saying alcohol drinking “cleans brains” should not persuade humans to drink more.

“It is by no means a green light for people to drink more alcohol,” says Dr Claire Walton, research manager at the UK’s Alzheimer’s Society, about a study on mice which has triggered coverage hinting otherwise.

It is a “big leap” to take a research finding for mice and apply it to people, she said. “There are just too many differences between mice and people to do this.” Drinking more than 14 UK units (140ml) of alcohol a week, meanwhile, definitely increases human alcohol-related dementia risk.

The study investigated the mouse’s brain waste-disposal system which might play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. “This is a relatively new area of research, where there is a lot still to be learned.”

Alcohol had a long history of use as a medicine, but it has since been found to be counterproductive in all cases and fraught with other risks. It is no longer put to any medical use other than as a sterilising fluid because of its ability to kill cells.

Dubious ideas that alcohol drinking can have health benefits can help support our decisions to drink, in what is known by health professionals as alcohol’s false “health halo”. ■

Legal threats have scuppered hopes for the resumption of a Canadian trial of labels warning that drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancer, putting a question mark over plans to inform consumers elsewhere.

Ireland and Australia are both considering labels warning that alcohol increases the risk of cancer, with Ireland’s lower house debating the move this week.

The UK’s Royal Society for Public Health proposed labels last month which include a warning that alcohol is proven to increase the risk of cancer (left). Alcohol producers quietly lowered their voluntary labelling standard last year.

The Canadian study was abruptly halted at the end of December after receiving a range of legal threats, including that it might be guilty of defamation and trademark infringement. Experts say those seeking to obstruct cancer labelling have a wide range of legal options.

The legal threats have not stopped the evaluation of labels not mentioning the increased cancer risk of drinking alcohol: one showing a standard drink size and another the low-risk drinking guidelines. Results are expected in June.

The trial is part of the second phase of the Northern Territories Alcohol Study led by researchers from Public Health Ontario and the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria.

Yukon’s 34,000 people have the highest alcohol sales per head in Canada. ■

The alcohol industry’s Portman Group (PG) is using a study it co-funded to resist calls for providing health information on alcoholic drink labels. Here’s a look at what the study actually says.

[Read more…] about Fact-check: Support for alcohol health labelling