Is wine bad for your health? Should it be convicted or acquitted? The sentence was pronounced at the end of a full-blown trial that took place yesterday evening in Milan, promoted by the Provincial Medical Association OmceoMi: wine “guilty”, but only in part, “for the fact that it is certainly dangerous for vulnerable subjects, minors and pregnant women”, and for this reason “sentenced to 18 months of community service to be served in a company that produces non-alcoholic wine”. Wine “acquitted”, however, “for the main charges (112, 590, 589 co. I and IV of the penal code), because the fact does not constitute a crime”.
The defense rejoices: “The conscious and moderate use, which led to the acquittal, was confused with the abuse which is instead very dangerous, but which did not concern the charges. All the alarms raised by the experts mainly concern the abuse. On which we all agree”, reads a note released after the trial that took place at the headquarters of Confcommercio, presented by the former rector of the Milanese State University, Elio Franzini, and directed by Nunzia Gatto, former general attorney at the Palace of Justice of Milan, appointed by the president of the court Fabio Roia. The wine was represented by the producer Walter Massa. The spokesman for the prosecution was magistrate Eugenio Fusco (“unlike what is said, wine has no beneficial effects”, he argued in his speech), supported by witnesses Andrea Arighi (director of Ssd Neurology-Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Milan Polyclinic), Irene Cetin (director of Sc Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Milan Polyclinic) and Alberto Martelli, a pediatrician. The defense was represented by lawyers Ilaria Livigni and Giorgia Andreis, supported by witnesses Luigi Saverio Belli (director of Sc Hepatology and Gastroenterology at the Niguarda Milan Polyclinic), Stefano Carugo (director of Uoc Cardiology at the Milan Polyclinic) and Vito Intini (president of Onav, the National Organization of Wine Tasters).
The expert reports were entrusted to forensic doctors Riccardo Zoja, Arnaldo Migliorini and Giuseppe Deleo, while the jury was composed of Pierluigi Vecchio (director of the National Federation of Medical Orders Fnomceo), Andrea Senna (president of dentists OmceoMi), Roberto Monaco (president of the Siena Medical Order and secretary Fnomceo) and Filippo Anelli (president Fnomceo). “This sentence reflects what emerged from the trial – says Roberto Carlo Rossi, president OmceoMi – Be careful with fragile people, the young and very young, pregnant women, where wine can really be dangerous. Be careful with abuse, certainly. But no real scientific evidence attests that wine consumed correctly is harmful to health and should be banned”.
For the pediatrician Martelli, pro-prosecution, “in Italy the numbers relating to ethanol consumption among young people are truly alarming. However, wine seems to be included in this phenomenon very marginally, because young people mostly abuse spirits. For minors, an educational path appears to be no longer postponable in the family and school environment”. The neurologist Arighi warns that “excessive and chronic consumption of wine causes serious neurological damage, both in the short and long term. Alcohol, metabolized into acetaldehyde, a toxic substance, causes oxidative stress and damage to nerve cells. In acute cases, wine abuse can lead to alcohol intoxication and epileptic seizures, as well as an increased risk of stroke”, while “chronic consumption can cause pathologies such as alcoholic dementia, peripheral neuropathy, as well as seriously compromising memory and cognitive functions”. According to gynecologist Cetin, wine “harms the fetus throughout pregnancy. If you are planning a pregnancy, it is advisable not to drink wine and alcoholic beverages from the month before conception because alcohol causes epigenetic modifications to gametes, including male ones, which are formed in the 70 days before conception. The toxic effects of wine are mainly linked to neuronal damage caused by ethanol and the resulting neuronal loss. These conditions are also associated with potential outcomes in later life”.
The defense endorses the risks of abuse, but adds other observations. “Is wine bad for the heart? Absolutely not – says cardiologist Carugo – Cardiology guidelines recommend 2 glasses (preferably red wine) for men and 1 for women per day, and in general no more than 100 grams of alcohol per week. Polyphenols (resveratrol) have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and are an integral part of the highly cardioprotective Mediterranean diet. Obviously, wine should be consumed in moderation, but the complexity and heterogeneity of the ‘wine matrix’ is the ideal vehicle for increasing its bioavailability and potential biological effects. The pleiotropic, synergistic and additive action of the different phenols could explain the protective effect exerted by wine even at low concentrations”. And to avoid damaging your liver? “The limit of moderation is usually set at 2 alcoholic units per day for women and 3 alcoholic units per day for men – replies hepatologist Belli – One alcoholic unit corresponds to about 10 grams of alcohol, the content of a glass of wine or a 250 cc beer. Wine, even in small quantities, is not recommended for subjects who have concomitant liver diseases, especially if advanced, such as cirrhosis from any cause. The excessive use of alcohol is a chapter in itself and can cause disease in 2 organs: the liver, up to the development of cirrhosis, and the brain when dependence sets in. Conditions that have nothing to do with moderate and recommended consumption”.
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