For the snowdrift

Cold and dark climate provokes alcoholism and liver diseases

Dmitry Mazalevsky, Naked Science

A study published in the journal Hepatology showed that as the temperature and amount of sunlight decreases, alcohol consumption increases. Climatic factors have also been linked to liver disease, one of the main causes of death in patients with excessive alcohol consumption. 

"This fact has been assumed for several decades, but no one has yet proved it scientifically. Why do people in Russia drink so much? Why do people drink a lot in Wisconsin? Everyone believes that the reason is cold, but we could not find a single work linking the climate with alcohol consumption or cirrhosis of the liver. This is the first study that demonstrates that all over the world in colder areas and regions with less sun, people drink more alcohol and suffer from cirrhosis more often," says Ramon Bataller, senior author of the work, MD Ramon Bataller.

Alcohol dilates blood vessels and increases the flow of warm blood to the skin, which is sensitive to temperature, so its use can "warm" the body. In Siberia, this may be more necessary than, say, in the Sahara. Drinking is also associated with depression, which is usually stronger with a lack of sunlight and cold air.

Using data from the World Health Organization, the World Meteorological Organization and other large databases, Bataller's group found a clear negative correlation between climatic factors – average air temperature and solar hours – and alcohol consumption, measured per capita, as a percentage of the population who drink alcohol, and the frequency of drinking.

The researchers also found evidence that the climate contributed to the development of cirrhosis of the liver. These trends were true both when comparing between countries and when comparing between counties in the United States.

"It is important to emphasize the many mixed factors. We tried to take into account the maximum possible number of parameters. For example, they tried to study the influence of religion on alcohol consumption," the article says. 

Since most of the Arab world lives in deserts abstaining from alcohol, it was important to make sure that the results would not change even with the exclusion of these Muslim countries. The state of Utah also has rules that restrict alcohol consumption, which also needs to be taken into account.

Among other things, the study shows that policy initiatives aimed at combating alcoholism and preventing cirrhosis of the liver should focus, among other things, on the geographical factor, because, as it turned out, it also affects these problems.

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