SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the this-news-is-terrible-and-I'm-gonna-need-a-drink dept.
No alcohol safe to drink, global study confirms
A large new global study published in the Lancet has confirmed previous research which has shown that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. The researchers admit moderate drinking may protect against heart disease but found that the risk of cancer and other diseases outweighs these protections. A study author said its findings were the most significant to date because of the range of factors considered.
The Global Burden of Disease [open, DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31310-2] [DX] study looked at levels of alcohol use and its health effects in 195 countries, including the UK, between 1990 and 2016.
Analysing data from 15 to 95-year-olds, the researchers compared people who did not drink at all with those who had one alcoholic drink a day. They found that out of 100,000 non-drinkers, 914 would develop an alcohol-related health problem such as cancer or suffer an injury. But an extra four people would be affected if they drank one alcoholic drink a day. For people who had two alcoholic drinks a day, 63 more developed a condition within a year and for those who consumed five drinks every day, there was an increase of 338 people, who developed a health problem.
One of the study authors, Prof Sonia Saxena, a researcher at Imperial College London and a practising GP, said: "One drink a day does represent a small increased risk, but adjust that to the UK population as a whole and it represents a far bigger number, and most people are not drinking just one drink a day."
Related: The Truth We Won't Admit: Drinking is Healthy
Study Shows 3 Drinks a Day May Cause Liver Cancer
Even Moderate Drinking Linked to a Decline in Brain Health
American Society of Clinical Oncology: Alcohol Use Increases Risk of Cancer
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday August 25 2018, @04:55PM (3 children)
I think the studies that find alcohol protective may be missing a causality link, but the simple fact of association is still powerful enough to merit consideration.
So what if alcohol decreases your lifespan overall, but people who drink a little live longer? Do we want to set up a control group of people who never drink and then try to argue that we should all abstain so we can get those extra 6 months in the nursing home? Maybe drinking a little puts you in the nursing home a little earlier, is that a bad or good thing?
I do know, without alcohol and similar recreational use substances, there would be less casual sex and unintended pregnancies - again, is this a reason to attack alcohol?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 25 2018, @07:08PM (1 child)
Sex is only casual for the first few minutes. Foreplay, and then the first few strokes. Then, it's serious! But, the girls don't like to get too serious, too fast, so you've got to be casual.
(Score: 3, Touché) by MostCynical on Saturday August 25 2018, @09:54PM
I think you're doing it wrong.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday August 26 2018, @11:27AM
Well, they're talking about drinking in the first place (not more exotic methods of alcohol consumption). So it's an ill-posed question. Why should we care about the nonexistent list of things that can decrease and increase your lifespan simultaneously.