• 'Alcohol consumption has a causal impact on more than 200 health conditions (diseases and injuries)'.
• The harmful use of alcohol has ‘a direct impact on many health-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those for maternal and child health, infectious diseases (HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis), noncommunicable diseases and mental health, injuries and poisonings’.

• Alcohol consumption in young people leads ‘to adverse effects on brain development, decreased educational attainment, low mental well-being, increased risk for social problems such as violence and crime, earlier development of liver cirrhosis, higher  likelihood of binge drinking, increased risk of alcohol use disorders, earlier onset and greater of alcohol consumption throughout the lifespan.’

• '[Alcohol] intake increases risk of several cancers and total mortality'.

• ‘[…], 'harmful alcohol consumption is among the leading risks to population health, causing many non-communicable diseases’.
• The OECD SPHeP-NCDs model covers twelve categories of disease, including seven directly related with alcohol (i.e. alcohol dependence, cirrhosis, injuries, cancer, depression, diabetes and CVDs).

• 'Do not begin to drink alcohol or purposefully continue to drink because you think it will make you healthier.'
• 'If you drink alcohol, at all levels of consumption, drinking less is generally better for health than drinking more.'

Cardiovascular disease

• 'Mendelian randomization studies suggest no cardio-protective effects from low volume consumption for CVD'.

• Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including cardiomyopathy, arrythmias , stroke, or high blood pressure

Coronary heart disease

• 'The detrimental effects of heavy drinking occasions on ischaemic diseases are consistent with the physiological mechanisms of increased clotting and a reduced threshold for ventricular fibrillation which occur following heavy drinking'.

• 'Except for individuals who are at particular risk […],consumption of 2 drinks/day for men and 1 for women is unlikely to increase health risks'.

Stroke

• Heavy episodic pattern of drinking has been linked to 'risk of cardiovascular diseases (mainly ischaemic heart disease and ischaemic stroke)'.

Blood pressure

• 'Alcohol consumption has detrimental effects on hypertension, (…) regardless of the drinking pattern.'

Serum lipids

• While in individuals with hypertriglyceridaemia even a small amount of alcohol can induce a further elevation of triglyceride concentrations, in the general population alcohol exerts detrimental effects on triglyceride levels only if the intake is excessive.

• Drinking too much alcohol can contribute to high triglycerides.

• 'High alcohol intake can be associated with elevated triglycerides, particularly in patients with obesity.'

• Moderate drinking can raise the levels of HDL cholesterol in the blood.

• A dual relationship exists between alcohol consumption and diabetes mellitus, whereby 'a low-risk pattern of drinking may be beneficial while heavy drinking is detrimental.'

• 'Alcohol consumption may place people with diabetes at increased risk for delayed hypoglycaemia, especially if taking insulin or insulin secretagogues.'

• Alcohol consumption has been identified as carcinogenic for the following cancer categories: 'cancer of the mouth, nasopharynx, other pharynx and oropharynx, laryngeal cancer, oesophageal cancer, colon and rectum cancer, liver cancer and female breast cancer. In addition, alcohol consumption is likely to cause pancreatic cancer. The higher the consumption, the greater the risk for these cancers, with consumption as low as one drink per day causing significantly increased risk for some cancers, such as female breast cancer.'

• 'Consumption of alcoholic drinks is a convincing cause of cancers of the mouth, pharynx and larynx; oesophagus (squamous cell carcinoma); liver; colorectum; and breast (postmenopause).'
• 'Consumption of alcoholic drinks is probably a cause of stomach cancer and premenopausal breast cancer.'
• 'Consumption of alcoholic drinks probably protects against kidney cancer.'
• 'The evidence suggesting that consumption of alcoholic drinks increases the risk of cancers of the following types is limited: lung, pancreas and skin (basal cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma).'

• 'There is sufficient evidence in humans for the Cancer-causing property of a substance when an animal or human is exposed to it. of alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption causes cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, colorectum, liver (hepatocellular carcinoma) and female breast.'
•  'Also, an association has been observed between alcohol consumption and cancer of the pancreas.'
• 'For cancer of the kidney and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, there is evidence suggesting lack of carcinogenicity.'
• The principal breakdown product of ethanol. Acetaldehyde is formed by oxidation of ethanol, the reaction being catalysed principally by alcohol dehydrogenase. It is itself oxidized to acetate by aldehyde dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde is a toxic substance, implicated in the alcohol flush reaction and in certain physical sequelae of alcohol consumption and carcinogenic substance. associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages causes cancers of the oesophagus and of upper aerodigestive tract combined.'
• Alcohol consumption, ethanol in alcoholic beverages, and acetaldehyde associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages are all carcinogenic to humans (Group 1).

• There is a direct link between the consumption of specific amounts of alcohol and the increased risk of digestive cancers.

• 'Recognition is growing that alcohol is a causal factor for at least 7 types of cancers, many of them common, with increased risk beginning at levels of consumption starting above zero.'

• Clear patterns have emerged between alcohol consumption and increased risks of certain types of cancer: Head and neck cancer, including oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx cancers; esophageal cancer, particularly esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (in addition, people who inherit a deficiency in an enzyme that metabolizes alcohol have been found to have substantially increased risks of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma if they consume alcohol); liver cancer; breast cancer (research has shown an important association between alcohol consumption and breast cancer—even one drink per day can increase a woman's risk for breast cancer by 5% to 15% compared to women who do not drink at all); colorectal cancer.
   

Alcohol Use Disorders

• 'Alcohol is a psychoactive substance with dependence-producing properties.'
• Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) are 'the most important neuropsychiatric conditions caused by alcohol consumption.'
•  Damage to mental health includes episodes of depressive disorder secondary to heavy consumption of alcohol.

• Brain damage including Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome is an alcohol-related complication.

Other

• 'Epilepsy is another disease causally impacted by alcohol, over and above withdrawal-induced seizures.'
• 'Alcohol consumption is associated with many other neuropsychiatric conditions, such as depression or anxiety disorders'.

• Liver cirrhosis and pancreatitis (both acute and chronic) are 'causally related to alcohol consumption. Higher levels of alcohol consumption create an exponential increase in risk. The impact of alcohol is so important that for both disease categories there are subcategories which are labelled as “alcoholic” or “alcohol-induced” in the ICD'.
• 'The risk of developing liver cirrhosis increases exponentially with heavier drinking.'
•  If a person has developed 'liver cirrhosis, no matter whether this is due to alcohol consumption or to other factors, the risk of mortality from liver cirrhosis becomes quite pronounced even at relatively moderate levels of drinking.'

• 'High [alcohol] intake may cause liver disease.'

• For liver cirrhosis 'risk appears to increase steeply with the amount of alcohol consumed.' If a threshold exists, it is very low.

• 'Heavy drinking [...]can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including steatosis (fatty liver), alcoholic hepatitis, liver fibrosis or cirrhosis'. 
• 'Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation in the pancreas that causes its swelling and pain (which may spread) and impairs its ability to make enzymes and hormones for proper digestion'.

• 'Harmful use of alcohol weakens the immune system thus enabling development of pneumonia and tuberculosis.'
• A strong association exists between 'alcohol consumption and HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases.'
• Alcohol consumption has a causal effect on reduced adherence to antiretroviral treatment by HIV/AIDS patients. Among HIV/AIDS patients who are not yet on antiretroviral therapy, there is a negative effect of alcohol consumption on the course of the disease.

• 'Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease.  Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much.  Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk'.

• A high alcohol intake can affect the ability to conceive as well as bring about pregnancy complications and impaired fetal development, including low birth weight, small for gestational age and preterm birth.

• 'Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and preterm birth complications: alcohol consumption by an expectant mother may cause these conditions that are detrimental to the health of a newborn infant.'

• ‘Alcohol has been identified as an important risk factor in different types of injury. Alcohol contributes to the occurrence of both unintentional injuries (road traffic injuries, drowning, burns, poisoning, falls) and intentional injuries (suicide,  interpersonal violence).'
• ‘The important part that alcohol plays in traffic injuries is well established.’
• ‘While earlier studies often focused on alcohol’s role in street violence, predominantly male-on-male, there has been an increased focus in recent years on alcohol’s role in violence in the family and in intimate relations, including sexual violence.’
• ‘Drinking by the perpetrator or by the victim or by both is frequently a factor in homicide, arguably the most extreme form of aggression.’
• ‘Alcohol poisoning is a consequence of drinking large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time. Drinking too much in a short period of time can affect breathing, heart rate, body temperature and gag reflex and may result in a coma and death. In comparisons with other psychoactive substances, alcohol is among the most lethal in terms of how close the amounts used for psychoactive effects are to the median amount that is lethal.’
   

• 'Occasional intoxication with alcohol, binge drinking, may have detrimental effects, such as violence and traffic accidents'. 

• The suicide risk in patients with alcohol and other substance use disorders has been estimated to be six times as high as that in the general population.
• As an intoxicating substance, alcohol 'lowers the threshold for triggers of suicidal behaviour.'
• 'One of the strongest predictors of suicide among persons with eating disorders is comorbidity with alcohol abuse.'

• 'An expansive literature shows that alcohol intoxication can increase dysphoria, cognitive disfunction, impulsivity and intensity of suicidal ideation'. 

• 'The effect of alcohol on weight gain and waist circumference is not clear from the cur­rent evidence.'

• Excessive alcohol drinking increases the risk of obesity.

Violence

• 'Women are also affected by interpersonal violence and risky sexual behaviour as a result of the drinking problems and drinking behaviour of male partners.'

Prenatal alcohol exposure

• 'Alcohol can interfere with fetal development and cause a range of disorders on a continuum of severity, known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD)'.

• 'Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and preterm birth complications: alcohol consumption by an expectant mother may cause these conditions that are detrimental to the health of a new-born infant.'

• 'The adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure constitute a continuum of disabilities (fetal alcohol spectrum disorders [FASD]).'
• 'FASDs are the leading cause of preventable developmental disabilities in the world.'

Parental AUDs

• 'Parents with alcohol use disorders display particular patterns of alcohol consumption and thereby increase the likelihood that their children will develop drinking patterns associated with high risk of alcohol use disorders when they are introduced to alcohol.'