The paradox of alcohol damage: what it is and possible causes of this phenomenon

It is no mystery that alcohol is a substance that our body does not need but, despite this, we all drink it, whether we are rich or poor.

Despite this reality, it seems that the wealthier classes have fewer negative effects associated with consumption of drink compared to the most disadvantaged classes, those who receive the worst dish, what does should?

This strange situation is called the paradox of the harm of alcohol and, although ironic at first, it seems that there is a lot of sense behind its occurrence.

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What is the alcohol harm paradox?

Alcohol consumption is a very widespread habit in most Western societies. Everyone, rich and poor alike, drinks from time to time. Some may prefer beer and spirits, while others prefer wine, but in any case, alcohol consumption is a fairly common practice in any neighborhood. Most consume it for leisure, since that is the only function that alcohol has, while others unfortunately drink because they have a serious alcoholism problem.

Alcohol is credited with being behind 5% of disabilities and illnesses and 5% of deaths globally. Although rich and poor consume it apparently equally, it is the latter who suffer the worst effects. It has been seen that people with low socioeconomic levels have more disorders and diseases attributed to the consumption of alcohol than wealthy people or, in other words, the poor get more sick from drinking than the poor. rich. This curious situation has been called the paradox of the harm of alcohol.

This phenomenon occurs globally, and is present in every society where alcohol is not a prohibited substance. In fact, a recent meta-analysis (Boyd et al., 2021) mentions several investigations carried out around the world, seeing this effect in countries such as Finland, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Netherlands, among many others so many.

We can also find it in slightly earlier studies, such as the one carried out by the Scottish government in 2015. In his study it was seen that In the wealthiest 50% of households, more than 45% of men drank at potentially harmful levels compared to 25% of men in the other half, economically more unfavorable. Although in that particular survey it was the rich who drank much more, those who suffered the most illnesses associated with alcohol consumption were the poor.

That same Scottish research saw that there were more alcohol-related deaths and hospitalizations among the lower classes compared to the higher ones. In fact, the statistics showed that there were more deaths due to cirrhosis among the older population. poor, a phenomenon that could be related not only to the effect of alcoholism but also to other drug addiction.

Logically, we might think that people who consume more alcohol should suffer its worst effects, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, however How is it possible that even though the favored classes are able to drink more, they are not so damaged by alcohol? This is why it is called the paradox of the harm of alcohol, since one might think that this The substance is secretly applying some kind of discrimination according to the purchasing power of its consumer. Obviously, the answer is much more rational.

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Why is there this paradox?

Over the past decades, drug addiction experts have found explanations for this phenomenon. It seems that one of the most important factors explaining the paradox is the type of behavior of the alcohol user (sustained or binge-eating) and the number of units of alcohol per week. Those who drink large amounts of alcohol at once tend to suffer more organ damage than people who drink regularly but more moderately, in low amounts.

This is where we find some of the main differences between rich and poor. People who live in affluent neighborhoods tend to consume alcohol, usually wine, in a very moderate way and, although they may do it up to every day, the fact of doing it in low doses means that the body is not subjected to too much stress. Instead, in the poorer neighborhoods it is common for the drinker, mostly of beer and spirits, to get drunk consuming huge amounts of alcohol all at once, even if not every day. This last type of consumption is especially harmful to the heart and liver.

But the differences are not explained solely by the fact that whoever drinks does so compulsively or not. The harmful effects of alcohol are increased when other factors are present, same factors that are especially common. among the less graceful classes such as having a poor diet, a higher percentage of overweight and less exercise with regularity. Added to all this, it has been seen that in poor neighborhoods there are up to four times more chances of being a smoker than in rich ones.

Another explanation is that in poorer neighborhoods alcohol is more easily obtained. It is not that there are difficulties in obtaining it in rich neighborhoods, what happens is that in poorer neighborhoods there is a greater presence of alcohol on the street, especially if we take into account that in this type of neighborhood there may be more than one bar on a street, supermarkets with a wide variety of drinks and even bakeries where it is sold beer. The easier alcohol is to obtain, the more harm is associated with its consumption.

But, as a culmination of all this, there is a factor that explains very well why the poor suffer more from the effects of alcohol than the rich: access to health services. The more affluent classes can afford to go to a psychologist, be treated for their drug addiction problems and, also, receive treatment to prevent damage to your liver, heart and other organs associated with long-term alcohol use term. Rehabilitation clinics are expensive and the poor simply cannot afford them.

Conclusions

The paradox of the harm of alcohol has served to understand that, although there is no causal relationship between poverty and alcohol consumption, there is it is necessary to understand the potential damages of this substance in the most deprived neighborhoods, where alcoholism occurs accompanied by other health problems such as sedentary lifestyle and smoking. These problems are more difficult to deal with in poor neighborhoods because people have a harder time receiving adequate assistance because they cannot afford it.

Alcohol consumption is increasing every year. It is necessary to understand the implications of the paradox of the harm of alcohol in order to develop a prevention strategy in poor neighborhoods, areas where alcoholism is most harmful. Understanding how alcohol affects people living in poor neighborhoods can prevent alcoholism from becoming a problem widespread social security, which would cause many economic losses to public administrations due to associated illness and death.