Alcohol is the root of 62 diseases and a partial cause of dozens more
Dozens of diseases are partially if not entirely attributable to alcohol consumption—but many can be slowed or reversed by cutting down on or quitting drinking, according to a new review co-authored by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The review was published May 13 in Addiction. Sinclair Carr and Ana Lucia Espinosa Dice, PhD students in the Department of Epidemiology, were among the co-authors. Carr was first author.
Evidence on the relationship between drinking and health is continuously evolving, and many studies’ findings have been conflicting. To update current understanding, the researchers looked at a wide range of studies—including meta-analyses, Mendelian randomization studies, and narrative syntheses—and evaluated their findings on the relationship between alcohol consumption and health outcomes, taking into consideration study design and limitations. They also examined the 10th and 11th editions of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases, a globally used standard for coding diseases, tracking health trends, and understanding disease causes and consequences.
The researchers found that 62 diseases—such as alcoholic cardiomyopathy (heart disease), cirrhosis, and fetal alcohol syndrome—are entirely attributable to alcohol consumption, in most cases heavy drinking. They also found that drinking raises the risk of:
- infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, pneumonia, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections
- non-infectious diseases, including type 2 diabetes, stroke, pancreatitis, dementia, and a variety of cancers
- injuries from accidents such as traffic accidents, falls, and violence
In a May 22 Healio article about the review, Carr and corresponding author Jürgen Rehm, senior scientist at the Canadian Center for Addiction and Mental Health, emphasized their findings about cancer and dementia.
“For cancer, the evidence indicates that risk increases from the first drink, with no safe threshold,” they said. “This is something many people do not know, so it is worth telling them.”
“The evidence on dementia has matured,” they continued. “The relationship between heavy drinking and dementia, including dementia that begins before age 65, is now well established.”
The review also found that reducing or stopping alcohol consumption can significantly decrease the risk of many illnesses and slow the progression of ones that have already been diagnosed. While certain chronic alcohol-related conditions—such as cirrhosis, heart disease, and brain damage—can’t be reversed, drinking less, if not quitting altogether, can inhibit their progression and quickly improve health.
Less alcohol “is generally better at any stage, even after early signs of disease have appeared, and … some harms may reverse when people reduce their drinking or stop,” Carr and Rehm told Healio.
The researchers noted that continued research is necessary to further clarify alcohol’s impact on the body—particularly studies that are large and follow diverse cohorts over time and randomized controlled trials that evaluate the health impacts of reducing or quitting drinking.
For now, however, Carr noted in a May 14 press release from Addiction that the review has led to “a cautious but clear conclusion: alcohol is a major cause of disease and injury, and its harms outweigh any potential benefits.”
Read the review: A review of the relationship between dimensions of alcohol consumption and the burden of disease: 2026 update including Mendelian randomisation studies
Read the press release: New review confirms alcohol causes dozens of health harms, some reversible
Read the Healio article: Review finds 62 diseases 100% attributable to alcohol intake
Read a Health article about the review: Can You Reverse Damage From Drinking Alcohol? What a New Review Found
