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Alcohol use carries a risk of early death

By Jim on Fri, 04/13/18
Society & Culture
Moderate Drinking
Alcohol
An analysis of nearly 600,000 people found those drinking more than 100g of alcohol every week – around five 175ml glasses of wine or pints of beer – were at an increased risk of early death. The study analysed 599,912 current drinkers in 19 countries, none of whom had a known history of cardiovascular disease, and found an increase in all causes of death when more than 100g of alcohol was consumed every week. According to the analysis, a 40-year-old who regularly drinks between 200g and 350g of alcohol per week – about 10 to 18 glasses of wine or pints of beer – has a lower life expectancy of around one to two years.

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Jim

NewParallel US (PBS) article

Fri, 04/13/18

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-much-alcohol-is-too-much-a-new-…

Some studies have suggested drinking moderate amounts of red wine is good for cardiovascular health, but what does moderate mean? That’s one question Angela Wood, who studies epidemiology and lectures at the University of Cambridge, and her team tried to figure out.

It’s a question that’s also long been debated among alcohol researchers. It’s hard to develop a one-size-fits-all recommendation because how alcohol affects the body can vary from one person to another. In certain studies, “moderate” is one drink a day; in others, it’s as many as three or four a day, researchers at Harvard’s School of Public Health have pointed out. …

The study could prompt public health experts to rethink how alcohol fits in the American diet and what it means to drink in moderation.

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Profile picture for user Bert Perry
Bert Perry

NewWorth noting here

Fri, 04/13/18

…is that the article notes “increases” beyond 100g/week, but actually gives data for 200-350g/week, or about 10-18 drinks/week. Now unless someone’s drinking is really, really consistent—1.5 to 2.5 drinks after dinner each day or something like that—it’s worth noting that such a drinker is pretty likely to be imbibing more than four drinks at a sitting at least once per week, most likely on Friday or Saturday night.

In other words, the data are actually pointing to clear indicators of problem drinking, not moderate drinking, and it is not apparent that the researchers made much of an effort to separate the two behaviors. In that way, it’s a lot like all the anti-spanking studies that lump in criminal child abuse with spanking, not bothering to discern whether as much as a bruise occurred as a result of the discipline.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Related . . .

Topics: Moderate Drinking, Alcohol, Abstinence from Alcohol
  • Is moderate drinking good for you? Despite what you’ve read, probably not.
  • A Wisdom Case for Total Abstinence from Alcohol in Modern Times
  • Gallup: More Americans View Moderate Drinking as Unhealthy
  • Convictions and Complexities about Drinking
  • How Alcohol Can Cause A-Fib and Other Heart Issues – The New York Times

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The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: But the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.

(KJV, Proverbs 10:32)

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