Liver holidays? A meta-analysis of drinking the same amount of alcohol daily or non-daily and the risk for cirrhosis.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Several alcohol drinking guidelines indicate that daily alcohol consumption should be avoided because of its negative impact on the liver and to avoid the development of alcohol use disorders. Evidence that supports this recommendation is scarce. Our aim was to compare daily versus non-daily drinking and its association with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: We conducted a review using PubMed/Medline and Embase as databases, selecting longitudinal or case control studies. A random effects meta-analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Five mainly large-scale studies were retrieved. Daily drinking was associated with a significant increase in risk of liver cirrhosis compared to non-daily drinking, with a pooled relative risks of 1.71 (95% confidence interval 1.23-2.23) for men and 1.56 (95% confidence interval 1.39-1.74) for women. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The consistent exposure to acetaldehyde and other toxins for daily drinkers may explain our findings. There should be days of abstinence to allow the liver to recover, especially for heavier drinkers.