The high burden of potential life lost among the young is of particular interest

Annie Britton report author

These include cirrhosis of the liver, breast cancer, colon cancer, accidental falls and road accidents.

The researchers say that for the lowest risk of death, men should not start drinking before the age of 34 and women should wait until they are 54 to enjoy a tipple.

Even then, men over 65 should only drink eight units (equivalent to four pints of beer) a week and women just three units (three glasses of wine).

Analysis

Researchers analysed data on death rates and alcohol consumption for England and Wales in 1996 and 1998, respectively.

Alcohol protects the heart from disease

They calculated that in the population as a whole drinking alcohol reduces death rates by around 2%.

This is because moderate drinking can protect against heart disease.

The protective effects of alcohol were strongest in men, with 2.8% fewer deaths in men compared with 0.9% fewer in women.

But the gains were largely seen in men over the age of 55 and women over the age of 65 for whom the risk of heart disease is much higher.

In the younger age groups, more deaths were caused by drinking than were prevented.

It is estimated that 75,000 years of life were lost prematurely because of alcohol - predominately among men under the age of 44.

Death toll

Road traffic accidents, suicide and alcoholic liver disease accounted for most of the deaths.

In women alcohol accounted for deaths from accidental falls, breast cancer, stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.

Report author Annie Britton said: "It can be concluded that only for certain subgroups of the population, namely men aged over 55 years and women over 65 years, is there a net favourable mortality outcome from current consumption levels.

"The high burden of potential life lost among the young is of particular interest and emphasis should be placed on reducing the mortality in this section of the population, as well as reducing the larger numbers of deaths occurring among the older age groups."

The research is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.