btorvik2

Got this from one of my sons and daughter-in-laws.

I've asked them to be on the lookout for any evidence of positive effects of
HEAVY drinking as well. :-)

bernie

Boston Globe
April 6, 2004

Drink to this
Evidence grows about benefits of moderate drinking

By Maggie Rosen, Globe Correspondent,

A story on the Sunday night TV show, "60 Minutes," was the turning point.

Before that, for at least 2,000 years, people claimed alcohol had
medicinal benefits, but no one knew for sure. In the dozen years since the
show aired, scientists around the world have been looking at alcohol's
upside, and their findings have been consistent: Drinking in moderation
appears healthier than not drinking at all.

The show, which said this link might explain why French people have less
heart disease than Americans, made it politically acceptable to talk about
the pluses of alcohol and encouraged researchers to explore the health
consequences of drinking, a number of scientists said.

Dr. Harvey Finkel, then a Boston University School of Medicine professor,
said he didn't believe it at first: How could something that so clearly
destroyed people's lives and their health possibly be good for them? But
after years of examining the data, Finkel said he changed his mind. Now,
in his retirement, he lectures about the health benefits of drinking a
glass or two of wine or beer with dinner.

The key distinction that Finkel and other doctors and scientists make
about drinking is the definition of "moderation." They are strongly
against drinking to get drunk, or drinking and driving. They suggest
people eat while they drink to mitigate against drunkenness. But they
believe that most people who can handle their liquor would do themselves a
favor by sipping wine or beer every day.

"Responsible drinking may actually prevent the common diseases of old
age," said Dr. R. Curtis Ellison, professor of medicine and public Health
at the Boston University School of Medicine. "The mortality rate [among
moderate drinkers] is 20 percent lower and the rate of heart disease 40
percent lower than in abstainers with similar behavior and [physical]
characteristics."

Over the last dozen years, in dozens of epidemiological studies examining
tens of thousands of patient records, researchers have noted a link
between moderate drinking and better health. Repeated studies from all
over the world have shown that people who consume moderate amounts of
alcohol have lower risk of heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes,
dementia, and maybe even obesity.

Not everyone is convinced. There has never been and may never be the
gold-standard study -- a randomized, double-blind test, giving some people
a placebo and others an alcoholic punch. Researchers say it would be
nearly impossible to get someone to fund a study that made people drink.

Short of that, "the evidence is not compelling [enough] to make a
recommendation to drink alcohol," said Dr. Daniel Jones, dean of the
University of Mississippi School of Medicine and a spokesman for the
American Heart Association, which shares his position. Other ideas, like
hormone-replacement therapy, seemed convincing when examined in large
epidemiological trials, Jones said, but then were debunked when tested
more rigorously.

Jones said he would not tell someone not to drink in moderation, but he
wouldn't advise them to start drinking, either, "because of the potential
risk, because of the uncertainty of the benefit and because there are so
many other factors we know are beneficial, such as exercise, controlling
weight and so forth."

Back in the alcohol-can-be-good-for-you camp, though, Dr. J. Michael
Gaziano of Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Veterans Administration
Boston Healthcare System recently completed a study of hypertensive men
that found moderate drinking dramatically reduced their risk of developing
cardiovascular disease.

"The conventional wisdom is that heavy drinking is bad -- there's no
disputing this. It raises blood pressure," which can damage the heart
muscle, Gaziano said. "But our study suggests that for men -- and probably
women -- light to moderate drinking not only is not a problem, but it
actually does significant good."

Scientists now believe that alcohol encourages production of "good"
HDL-cholesterol, helps wash the gunk out of the lining of blood vessels
and reins in "free radicals," which can damage cells, causing heart
disease, cancer, and other problems. Researchers are beginning to examine
the psychological benefits of having a relaxing glass of wine or mug of
beer with dinner.

Until recently, most alcohol research focused on the health benefits of
red wine. One British physician, Dr. William McCrea of the Great Western
Hospital in Swindon, found that a specific Chilean wine -- Montes Cabernet
Sauvignon Reserve 2001 -- helped prevent blood clotting and cholesterol
buildup in the blood vessels of cardiac patients.

But the focus has now expanded to include white wine, dark beer, cider and
spirits, which all seem to confer roughly the same benefit. It's not yet
clear whether the health boost comes from the skins, stems, seeds, husks
or even the oak in which alcohol is aged, though researchers are searching
for those answers. The fermentation appears to be crucial; g**** juice
does not extend lifespans as one recent Harvard Medical School study
suggests alcohol might.

Dark beer contains antioxidants, as well as high levels of important
dietary minerals such as chromium, which may help control blood glucose
levels, and silicon, which may help with bone health.

Research also implies that hard cider, "colored" spirits like whisky, and
to a lesser extent white wine, have the same polyphenols and flavonoids
found in red wine, and so provide the same antioxidant and
anti-inflammatory benefits. Flavonoids are what give many fruits and
vegetables their dark color.

Not all alcohol conveys equal benefit: Light beers and "white spirits"
like gin and vodka don't appear to contain any health-giving ingredients.

And drinking is obviously not for everyone. Doctors and researchers agree
that anyone with a previous history of abuse, a dislike for alcohol,
contrary religious beliefs, or who is on medication that is incompatible
with alcohol should not drink.

Different people respond to alcohol differently. A recent study out of
Tufts University suggests that for people with certain genetic mutations,
alcohol consumption may actually boost their bad cholesterol instead of
the good, potentially making them sicker instead of healthier.

"There are no external symptoms, and we have no way of knowing who has
this without doing genetic testing," said Jose M. Ordovas, a senior
scientist at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts
University. "The message is that no single recommendation can fit
everyone, and until we have more efficient ways of doing personalized
therapy, its dangerous to generalize."

Responsible, moderate drinking means not driving, drinking with meals when
the food dilutes the "tipsying" effect of alcohol, and not drinking a
weekly quota all at once, Ellison and other scientists said.

"You cannot save your `drink a day' all week and then have seven drinks on
Saturday night," Ellison said.

Finkel said it's still harder than it should be to convince Puritanical
Americans that drinking might be healthy.

There are people, Finkel said, "who can't accept the idea that even one
drop of alcohol could possibly be good for you."


Good for what ails you

Drinking alcohol in moderation can reduce your chances of suffering a wide
range of maladies, according to a selection of recent studies.

Heart disease. A study of 14,000 male doctors treated for hypertension
found that those who consumed one or two drinks a day reduced their risk
of developing heart disease by 44 percent, compared to nondrinkers.

Lung disease. Resveratrol, found in the skins of red fruits such as
g****s reduced lung infl ammation in patients with chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, the cause of at least 3 million deaths per year.

Type 2 (adult onset) diabetes. In a study of 22,000 twins, moderate
drinkers were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than nondrinkers,
particularly among those who were not overweight. Heavy and binge drinking
may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in women.

Osteoporosis. People with diets high in silicon, a mineral found in dark
beer, had higher bone densities and therefore a lower chance of developing
osteoporosis. The bone-benefi ts in the 2,800-person study appeared most
clearly in premenopausal women.

Dementia. Those who consumed one to three drinks per day reduced their
risk of getting dementia by 42 percent compared to nondrinkers. There was
no difference in the source of alcohol the 5,400 test subjects drank.

Obesity. The extra calories in a glass of wine or beer with dinner don't
end up on people's hips, but instead, in this preliminary study, appear to
help the body get rid of excess weight.

"official ASC Shaman"

jenn vanderslice

Well, that all being said, I haven't met an alcoholic yet that hasn't
used this BS as an excuse for drinking.
Just ask the adult-children of alcoholics what the benefits of alcohol
are. They'll tell you: NOTHING!

/J


--
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe -
the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. - Immanuel Kant
RCTY: 6x6 <http://gwenevere.tripod.com/rcty6x6exchange/>

duffy

You'll get the same response from
the children-adults of children alcoholics!


Joe

mickey

Of course. Alcoholics will use any excuse, valid or not.

They would be wrong, throwing up an emotion-based argument in the face of
facts.There are clearly benefits to consuming moderate amounts of alcohol.

miss elaine eos

Have you met an alcoholic who drinks moderately (1-2 glasses of wine or
beer or 1-2 shot mixed-drinks per day)?

Therein lies the difference.

A couple of cigars/day: good for you.
12-20 cigars/day: bad.

20-120 minutes of exercise/day: good for you.
14 hrs of exersize/day: bad.

etc.

--
Please take off your shoes before arriving at my in-box.
Lots of good cigar info, the ASC Birthday page, FAQs, vendors and more at
<http://www.ManyFriends.com/Cigars/>

james gentry

An interesting read on this topic...

http://www.ias.org.uk/publications/alert/99issue2/alert9902_p16.html

:-)

-James

Remove the _CATION to send email.

hutch

Then your contact with alcoholics has been severely limited I'd guess.

It seems that you missed the first paragraph which ended with the
sentence: "Drinking in moderation appears healthier than not drinking
at all.". The key word there being *moderation*. I'd hazard the
opinion that all ACOA members will agree that there was nothing
moderate about alcohol consumption in their homes growing up.

hutch

I have. The disease of alcoholism is not about the amount of
consumption. It is about the body/brains reaction to the substance. In
fact the disease itself is totally unrelated to consumption at all. I
know hundreds and hundreds of alcoholics that haven't consumed any
alcohol whatsoever in many (as many as 55) years. It's much like
diabetes in the sense that lack of sugar consumption does not mean
that the person is no longer a diabetic.

jenn vanderslice

Yes....they drink out of bigger glasses. 2 glasses= 1 bottle ;-)

"Really, I only drink 2 glasses of wine a day...."

I've heard and seen it all...
--
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe -
the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. - Immanuel Kant
RCTY: 6x6 <http://gwenevere.tripod.com/rcty6x6exchange/>

chris

Why, I think I'll celebrate with a nice bottle of Keiths!