Moderate alcohol consumption and chronic disease: The case for a long-term trial

TY - JOUR

T1 - Moderate alcohol consumption and chronic disease

T2 - The case for a long-term trial

AU - Mukamal, Kenneth J

AU - Clowry, Catherine M

AU - Murray, Margaret M

AU - Hendriks, Henk F J

AU - Rimm, Eric B

AU - Sink, Kaycee M

AU - Adebamowo, Clement A

AU - Dragsted, Lars Ove

AU - Lapinski, P Scott

AU - Lazo, Mariana

AU - Krystal, John H

N1 - CURIS 2016 NEXS 301

PY - 2016/11/1

Y1 - 2016/11/1

N2 - Drinking within recommended limits is highly prevalent in much of the world, and strong epidemiological associations exist between moderate alcohol consumption and risk of several major chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, and breast cancer. In many cases, plausible biological mediators for these associations have been identified in randomized trials, but gold standard evidence that moderate drinking causes or prevents any chronic disease remains elusive and important concerns about available evidence have been raised. Although long-term randomized trials to test the observed associations have been termed impossible, clinical investigators have now successfully completed randomized trials of complex nutritional interventions in a variety of settings, along with trials of alcohol consumption itself of up to 2 years duration. The successful completion of these trials suggests that objections to the execution of a full-scale, long-term clinical trial of moderate drinking on chronic disease are increasingly untenable. We present potential lessons learned for such a trial and discuss key features to maximize its feasibility and value.

AB - Drinking within recommended limits is highly prevalent in much of the world, and strong epidemiological associations exist between moderate alcohol consumption and risk of several major chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, and breast cancer. In many cases, plausible biological mediators for these associations have been identified in randomized trials, but gold standard evidence that moderate drinking causes or prevents any chronic disease remains elusive and important concerns about available evidence have been raised. Although long-term randomized trials to test the observed associations have been termed impossible, clinical investigators have now successfully completed randomized trials of complex nutritional interventions in a variety of settings, along with trials of alcohol consumption itself of up to 2 years duration. The successful completion of these trials suggests that objections to the execution of a full-scale, long-term clinical trial of moderate drinking on chronic disease are increasingly untenable. We present potential lessons learned for such a trial and discuss key features to maximize its feasibility and value.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - Randomized controlled trial

KW - Feeding studies

U2 - 10.1111/acer.13231

DO - 10.1111/acer.13231

M3 - Review

C2 - 27688006

SN - 0145-6008

VL - 40

SP - 2283

EP - 2291

JO - Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research

JF - Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research

IS - 11

ER -