The three main intermediate mechanisms between average volume of drinking, pattern of drinking and diseases have been identified: (1) toxic and beneficial biological effects of alcohol on organs and tissues; (2) intoxication; and (3) dependence [1]. In addition, the quality of alcoholic beverages may impact health outcomes and mortality (Figure 1), for instance via methanol or lead poisoning outbreaks. However, the latter pathway seems to be of less importance from a public health perspective [11;12] because the documented impact is much lower compared to the impact of volume and pattern (described below).
