UNATI
How alcohol affects your health
To drink or not to drink? This project seeks to clarify it with scientific evidence
Today, there is much confusion about the health effects of alcohol consumption. While some recommendations state that "there is no safe level of consumption," other programs of study suggest that moderate drinking may even be associated with lower mortality compared to no drinking at all. However, many of these programs of study have limitations, the most important of which is that they are not randomized trials. This may influence their results and create confusion about whether drinking is healthy or not.
To answer this controversy more clearly, the UNATI study (University of Navarra Alumni Trialist Initiative), a randomized clinicalessay that will follow for 4 years about 10,000 people (men aged 50 to 70 and women aged 55 to 75) who drink between 3 and 40 drinks per week.
Participants will be randomly divided into two groups. Throughout those 4 years, they will receive annual medical check-ups and continuous counseling by a health professional (4 times a year) according to one of these guidelines:
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Reduce alcohol consumption.
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Consume in moderation: less than 7 drinks per week in women and less than 14 in men, avoiding excesses, prioritizing red wine, only with meals and spread throughout the week.
grade: no one will be encouraged to start drinking or to drink more. Likewise, any participant is free to follow the advice, all that is required is a willingness to listen to it.
Objective
To assess how alcohol consumption influences the development a range of serious health problems, such as mortality, cardiovascular disease, cancer, cirrhosis, subject 2 diabetes, depression, dementia, serious injuries or infections requiring hospitalization.
This study could provide for the first time a clear answer based on solid scientific evidence to a core topic for public health: what is really the impact of moderate alcohol consumption?
Do you want to be part of this pioneering study?
If you are a man between 50 and 70 years old or a woman between 55 and 75 years old, and you consume between 3 and 40 drinks per week, you can join the study. Help us clarify one of the great debates in public health.
"It is an unprecedented study that will set new recommendations for the population on alcohol consumption. It will answer very practical questions, apply new technologies and provide public health with the best possible scientific evidence."
Miguel Ángel Martínez-González
Principalresearcher
project technical information
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Acronym: UNATI
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degree scroll fulldegree scroll : A non-inferiority randomized trial testing an advice of moderate drinking pattern versus advice on abstention on major disease and mortality.
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studysummary : randomized clinical essay that seeks to answer with solid evidence whether moderate alcohol consumption can be a safe alternative to total abstinence. The study focuses on people who already consume between 3 and 40 drinks per week.
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goal: To compare two different recommendations over 4 years: abstinence/reduction of consumption versus moderation (no more than 7 drinks per week in women and 14 in men, prioritizing red wine at meals).
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IP coordinator: Miguel Ángel Martínez-González.
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Funding Entity: European Research Council
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reference letter: 101097681
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Call: ERC-2022-ADG
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Duration: December 2023 - November 2028
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budget: 2.5 million euros
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Principal entity: University of Navarra
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Collaborators: >450 physicians from the National Health System throughout Spain.
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Steering Committee: University of Navarra and University of Alcalá