2023-05-06 01:52:38
The professor at the University of Navarra, Miguel Ángel Martínez, will study whether the advice that points towards moderate alcohol consumption following the Mediterranean pattern is comparable to the advice of total abstention
“We need the maximum scientific evidence about health advice on alcohol consumption and this trial can provide it.” Miguel Angel MartinezProfessor of Preventive Medicine at the University of Navarra and CIBEROBN researcher, has just been selected by the European Research Council (ERC) as one of the beneficiaries of its Advanced Grantsone of the most prestigious and best endowed calls for European scientific funding.
The subsidy, of 2.5 million euros, has been awarded to the UNATI project (acronym for University of Navarra Trialists Initiative), whose objective is to provide evidence on alcohol consumption and its effects on health.
“There is no doubt that, in young people, in Spain, alcohol is doing a lot of damageespecially through a ‘bottle’ type consumption”, points out Martínez. However, he continues, in older people with other consumption patterns, more studies are necessary.
“The relevant question arises in older people if they follow a “prudent” pattern of drinking. There are currently two divergent positions regarding the health advice that should be given to those over 50 who habitually maintain a moderate alcohol consumption (between 1 and 2 drinks a day). Great public health experts defend that health education for these people should lead them towards a Mediterranean pattern of alcohol consumption, which minimizes the risks. But other voices, also very authoritative, defend that Only total abstinence should be recommended. The reality is that there is a lack of top-level scientific evidence to opt for one or the other”, indicates the researcher via email.
“What is known so far is based only on observational studies that may have biases or on small, short-term trials.” This new research “will allow an answer based for the first time on a large randomized trial and with long-term follow-up“, aade.
Effects of alcohol
The study, which will take place over the next five years, will compare 10,000 volunteers aged between 50 and 70 years, the long-term effects of two different types of advice on alcohol consumption: total abstinence versus moderate consumption of alcohol -mainly wine- within the framework of a Mediterranean diet.
“It is a randomized non-inferiority trial”, emphasizes Martínez- “It is about assessing whether the advice that points towards moderate alcohol consumption following the Mediterranean pattern is comparable (it does not become inferior) to the advice of total abstention”, highlights .
The trial, says the researcher, will not only evaluate the effects of following one or the other pattern, but also to what extent both types of advice have been fulfilled.
The project foresees inviting medical graduates from the University of Navarra to participate in the project as researchers. “The design of this trial has aroused great interest because, in addition to answering very practical questionsapplies new technologies and thus allows the workload for medical researchers to be minimized and does not interfere with the clinical care of their patients”, adds the researcher.
“We need the UNATI trial because there are many things that we still don’t know for sure. What we know about the effects of alcohol suggests that the answer depends fundamentally on three factors: gender, age and pattern of consumption. The balance of what we know it is that it is worse in young people, it is worse in women and it is worse if it is concentrated on the weekendit is consumed outside of meals and strong drinks are preferred (‘bottle’ pattern)”, emphasizes Martínez.
This is not the first time that Martínez has received funding for an ERC research project. Previously, the study PREDIMED-Plus, designed to evaluate the effect of a traditional Mediterranean diet with energy restriction, physical activity and behavioral treatment on the prevention of cardiovascular disease. In 2019, intermediate results of the investigation were published, the final conclusions of which are expected in the coming months.
“We hope that thanks to this ‘grant’, Spain will once again be a world leader, as it has been with the Mediterranean diet”, concludes Martínez. “It will allow for an answer based on a large randomized trial with long-term follow-up for the first time.”
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