Creina
Stockley
Creina Stockley
Australia - Glen Osmond
Biography
Creina S. Stockley PhD MBA, has 30 years of experience in the alcohol and health arena, and was based at the Australian Wine Research Institute from 1991 to 2018. Her academic background is clinical pharmacology and physiology, and she has also been associated with public health projects via the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University. She is currently an independent consultant as well as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at the University of Adelaide. In 1997, she was appointed the Australian government representative on the Health and Safety Commission of the Organisation International de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV) and served as President of the Commission IV Safety and Health, being awarded the Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit (France) in 2015 and, more recently, the OIV Merit Award. She has been actively involved in the preparation of Australian and international alcohol policy, alcohol drinking guidelines and alcohol warning labelling, as well as actively being involved in pharmacokinetic/dynamic/therapeutic research projects on a range of health, nutrition and safety related issues to alcohol consumption. Latterly, these have included the potential allergenicity of wine, and the effects of wine and wine-derived phenolic compounds on cardiovascular diseases, cognitive function and certain cancers.
Affiliations
- Consultant
- University of Adelaide
- Member of 'Lifestyle, Diet, Wine & Health' Scientific Committee
- University of Adelaide
- Member of 'Lifestyle, Diet, Wine & Health' Scientific Committee
Areas of expertise
- Alcohol and health
- Clinical pharmacology and physiology
- Clinical pharmacology and physiology
Abstract
International alcohol drinking guidelines – in perspective
International alcohol drinking guidelines – in perspective
Alcohol has been consumed since biblical times. Declining since 2015, in 2019 global average per capita consumption was estimated as 5.5 L of pure alcohol. The consumption of alcohol in each country, however, varies greatly and is affected by each country's laws, culture, and other characteristics. Indeed, while the European and African regions experienced sizeable decline in per capita consumption by 17% and 18%, respectively, between 2000 and 2019, there has been stagnation in the Americas region and substantial increases in per capita consumption in the South-East Asia (112%) and Western Pacific regions (40%).
The effects of alcohol on the human body are dose-dependent, where the harmful effects of alcohol are generally observed only when alcohol consumption exceeds moderate consumption levels of alcohol per day. This is best described as a u- or j-shaped relationship and has been observed for an increasing number of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia, as well as certain cancers although risk of alcohol-related cancers is generally linear.
This paper chronicles changes in the rationale behind international alcohol guidelines since 1990. Emphasis is placed on the different approaches, evidence and methodology of countries, and changes to those in the past two decades in particular. A specific example is the evolving definition of an acceptable risk and life-time risk modelling, as well as relevance to the current medical and scientific literature. The development of the most recent iterations of The Netherlands, UK, Australia and Canada alcohol drinking guidelines is detailed, along with discussion on their acceptance by the general population.
Alcohol has been consumed since biblical times. Declining since 2015, in 2019 global average per capita consumption was estimated as 5.5 L of pure alcohol. The consumption of alcohol in each country, however, varies greatly and is affected by each country's laws, culture, and other characteristics. Indeed, while the European and African regions experienced sizeable decline in per capita consumption by 17% and 18%, respectively, between 2000 and 2019, there has been stagnation in the Americas region and substantial increases in per capita consumption in the South-East Asia (112%) and Western Pacific regions (40%).
The effects of alcohol on the human body are dose-dependent, where the harmful effects of alcohol are generally observed only when alcohol consumption exceeds moderate consumption levels of alcohol per day. This is best described as a u- or j-shaped relationship and has been observed for an increasing number of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia, as well as certain cancers although risk of alcohol-related cancers is generally linear.
This paper chronicles changes in the rationale behind international alcohol guidelines since 1990. Emphasis is placed on the different approaches, evidence and methodology of countries, and changes to those in the past two decades in particular. A specific example is the evolving definition of an acceptable risk and life-time risk modelling, as well as relevance to the current medical and scientific literature. The development of the most recent iterations of The Netherlands, UK, Australia and Canada alcohol drinking guidelines is detailed, along with discussion on their acceptance by the general population.