Many scientists have long explored the potential dangers of alcohol. Now, one study has revealed consuming even one drink a day may raise your stroke risk.
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Researchers from universities in England and China recently conducted a study, published in The Lancet, to explore the link between stroke risk and alcohol consumption.
To do so, they examined 500,000 people in China for 10 years. Throughout the decade-long period, they assessed their health and tracked their alcohol intake.
After analyzing the results, they found one to two drinks a day increased stroke risk by 10-15 percent. Four drinks daily upped the risk of having a stroke by 35 percent.
The scientists defined one drink as a small glass of wine, a bottle of beer or a single measure of spirits.
"There are no protective effects of moderate alcohol intake against stroke. Even moderate alcohol consumption increases the chances of having a stroke," co-author Zhengming Chen said in a statement. "The findings for heart attack were less clear-cut, so we plan to collect more evidence."
The team did note some limitations. They acknowledged they only evaluated Chinese people and mainly spirits, but they expect “the findings to apply to alcohol in other drinks,” the authors wrote.
This isn’t the first time researchers have linked alcohol consumption to poor health.
In 2018, researchers from institutions across the United States, Europe and Australia also published a study in The Lancet that found just consuming one drink daily can shorten life expectancy.
And in 2017, a group of scientists from the American Society of Clinical Oncology published an assessment in the Journal of Clinical Oncology moderate consumption of alcohol can increase your risk of cancer.
Want to learn more about the latest findings? Take a look here.
» RELATED: Even one drink per day can increase your risk of cancer, study warns
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