Heavy drinking linked to risk of muscle loss and frailty in later life

UK: Higher levels of alcohol consumption may negatively affect muscle mass in middle and older men and women, says a recent study published in Calcified Tissue International. 

The University of East Anglia research found that heavy drinking could increase the risk of muscle loss and frailty in later life. The study with statistical modelling showed that people with the lowest amount of muscle were drinking ten units or more a day – about a bottle of wine.

The research team scaled for body size because larger people have more muscle mass. And they took into account factors such as protein consumption and physical activity.

The team say that their findings, mainly in people in their 50s and 60s, suggest another reason to cut back on booze.

From UEA’s Norwich Medical School, Prof Ailsa Welch said: “Losing muscle as we age leads to problems with weakness and frailty in later life.

“Alcohol intake is a major modifiable risk factor for many diseases, so we wanted to learn more about the relationship between drinking and muscle health as we age.”

The team studied data from the UK Biobank - a large-scale database of anonymised lifestyle and health information from half a million people in the UK.

They looked at data for nearly 200,000 people aged between 37 and 73.

Dr Jane Skinner, also of UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “We studied how much alcohol people were drinking and compared it with how much muscle they had, according to their body size.

“We also took into account things like how much protein they consumed, their levels of physical activity and other factors that could make a difference to how much muscle they might have.

“Most of the people were in their 50s and 60s. We found that those who drank a lot of alcohol had a lower amount of skeletal muscle compared to people who drank less, after we took into account their body sizes and other factors.

“We saw that it really became a problem when people were drinking 10 or more units a day- the equivalent of about a bottle of wine or four or five pints.

“Alcohol consumption and muscle mass were measured cross-sectionally - in people at the same time - so we can’t be sure of a causal link,” she added.

Prof Welch said: “This study shows that alcohol may harm muscle mass at higher consumption levels.

“We know that losing muscle as we age leads to problems with weakness and frailty, so this suggests another reason to avoid drinking high amounts of alcohol routinely in middle and early older age,” she added.

Reference:

Skinner, Jane, Shepstone, Lee, Hickson, Mary and Welch, Ailsa (2023) Alcohol consumption and measures of sarcopenic muscle risk: cross-sectional and prospective associations within the UK Biobank Study. Calcified Tissue International.