ABSTRACT
A large number of studies in recent years has demonstrated that moderate drinkers of alcoholic beverages have lower morbidity and mortality rates than abstainers and very infrequent drinkers (see Chapters 12 and 13). The standard causal interpretation of this observation is that alcohol in moderation may offer protection against certain diseases—coronary heart disease in particular. Biological mechanisms for this effect also have been reported. However, at higher levels of consumption, negative health effects seem to outweigh the alleged protective effects, and the risk of disease increases. Hence, overall mortality rate appears to be a J-shaped function of consumption. Most of the evidence for these calculations derives from nonexperimental, epidemiological studies. The data therefore should be interpreted cautiously, as all confounding variables may not have been controlled for adequately. Abstainers and very light drinkers are different from normal drinkers in many respects and these differences have health consequences (Skog, 1996). Nonetheless, this chapter ignores this difficulty and takes for granted that the observed J-curve is the true relationship between consumption and health outcomes.
