Drinking alcohol may carry hidden health risks, even if you’re young and healthy. A new study from Brown public health researchers finds that even moderate doses of alcohol trigger biological changes linked to chronic disease.
The study, led by Mollie Monnig, associate professor of behavioral and social sciences, examined biological markers related to chronic disease, including various types of proteins, in young, healthy adults who were either light or heavy drinkers.
Researchers found that participants who were heavy drinkers had elevated biomarker levels across immune, vascular and metabolic systems — changes that may potentially disrupt insulin regulation, vascular functioning, inflammation and other homeostatic regulations of the body. They also detected elevated levels of a pro-inflammatory protein, sRAGE, immediately after a moderate dose of alcohol.
Building on prior research from Monnig and her team, researchers examined biomarkers that are linked to the development of chronic disease over time.
Thirty-two healthy adults, with an average age of 25, participated in the study. Over the course of three visits, participants’ blood was tested before and after they received a placebo drink that mimics the look and taste of alcohol, a low-dose alcoholic drink that produced an average breath alcohol of 0.03%, and a moderate drink that produced an average breath alcohol of 0.06%.
“The doses weren’t very high, participants were young and healthy and even the heavy drinkers had been drinking heavily for less than two years on average,” Monnig said.
And yet, biomarkers were sufficiently elevated to signal potential future health problems for drinkers.
“The study provides a snapshot before people get farther into heavy drinking and develop comorbidities like dementia, heart disease, vascular disease, cancer and diabetes,” Monnig said. “The results do not imply that participants are definitively on the path to developing these conditions. But it is remarkable that we saw elevated biomarkers in healthy participants with a short drinking history.”