3 Drinks a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Nzimmer911 writes "Heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers according to a 20 years study following 1,824 people. From the article: 'But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that - for reasons that aren't entirely clear - abstaining from alcohol does actually tend to increase one's risk of dying even when you exclude former drinkers. The most shocking part? Abstainers' mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers.'"

stress

[fermion]

I would say that people who don't drink are also worries. Did I close the door. Have I done all my homework. Are people going to like these shoes. How can I hide that I sleep around from my church. That sort of thing. People who drink may also spend less time worrying about the little details, and therefore have happier longer lives. Probably not, but maybe.

Chill out factor

[TamCaP]

a) as usual, one of the favorite caveats of Slsahdot: correlation != causation
b) it would be interesting to see if choice of abstinence (not forced due to alcoholism or previous medical condition) is actually undertaken by people with higher level of general stress or those who are less social. As in, moderately consumed alcohol is basically being a "have reasonable fun" catalyst, which probably should increase life expectancy at least slightly.

Beer

[DrgnDancer]

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Attributed to Ben Franklin and I'm too lazy to verify it.

I don't find this information at all surprising, but I'm happy enough to hear it. make mine a double too.

I have a theory

[Ubergrendle]

While the WC Fields wino-stereotype is quite common in fiction, its actually not very common in the real world. Most alcoholics tend to be thin, and to a lesser extend borderline malnourished. Their poison of choice is alcohol, it occupies most of their spare time. In contrast, most western nations now have major dietary problems -- most people are overweight due to lifestyle, choice of foods, and lack of exercise. Its not that alcoholics or heavy drinkers are more healthy, its that they're not as unhealthy as the median (of fatties and smokers).

well that settles it.

[snookerhog]

guess I am getting back on the wagon... or is it off the wagon. Where's my bottle opener...

Re:Stress?

[FoboldFKY]

I don't drink. But it's not because I'm a tightwad: I just hate the taste of alcohol. I can taste it in seemingly trace amounts in everything other than drinks with ridiculous amounts of sugar.

There is a smaller reason in that I've seen a lot of people, including friends, do... inadvisable things while drunk. The thought of not being in possession of my faculties and not being able to tell scares me.

I also know I have a somewhat addictive personality. So on the whole, I think I'll continue to not drink booze.

Just 1 caveat...

[Duncan J Murray]

These studies are not new, and doctors have known about the 'J' shaped curve for a while - where abstaining is correlated with high all-cause mortality than moderate alcohol intake, but heavy intake is associated with increased mortality too. However, these studies have only shown a correlation, not a causation, and until we have a randomised control trial (which is unlikely ever to happen) this is unlikely to be proven clearly. There is some suggestion that the correlation may be to do with a confounding factor - which is social drinking. Those drinking 3/day every other day, likely have a good social environment, which is independently linked to improved health. On the other hand, the cardiologist at our local hospital believes it is a true effect of alcohol and prescribes two glasses of wine to all patients admitted with a myocardial infarction/heart attack.

Atherosclerosis

[IdahoEv]

This country is so very freaked about mind-altering substances, vices, and "sins", that it doesn't get talked about much. But the truth is it's been known for over a century that drinkers have cleaner arteries. Thinner blood, and/or some chemistry with the alcohol seems to help keep the plaques from forming.

Very heavy and binge drinking does start to cause other problems - and these results are what people bandy about in order to bash alcohol as a deadly vice. But it's been clear for a long time that moderate drinking can avoid those problems while still resulting in cleaner arteries. And since heart disease is the single biggest killer in the first world, it should be no surprise at all that anything which can reduce atherosclerosis results in a noticeable decrease in the death rate.

Nothing about this study is news to anyone who's paid attention to the science, anytime in the last hundred years.

Another link

[Serenissima]

Well, I googled and found that previous 2004 study, but now, just seconds later when I click on it, it's behind a paywall of some sort. Here's another link from 2007 showing the same graph [blogspot.com]