Isolating people by how much they drink and then correlating that to various diseases is a pretty weak study. I mean, common, 7 drinks per week is high risk? Really? A glass of wine or a beer and the end of each day puts you in the high-risk category? Most of my friends would have been dead a long time ago if any of that was even remotely true. I think that if you control your diet, exercise regularly, take your core supplements like probiotics, fish oil, etc. and get out in the sun frequently, drinking a couple of drinks at the end of the day to relax or hang out with your friends is about the last thing you need to worry about.
Hey, I'm just the conduit, not the source. But I don't think "high risk" means everyone gets sick and dies in rapid succession. Rather, it's probably a question of statistical significance. I remember when smoking was considered fairly benign. People didn't all just die after a few years. It took longer, aged everyone who did it more quickly, but not everyone obviously succumbed to it. I don't know. But since I don't drink anyway, this piece did not serve as an invitation to cocktails for me.
Yeah, but the problem is most people don't understand the insignificance of certain statistics. So for example, when my son was born his mother was in her upper 30's and of course the doctors warn you that the risk of having a kid with down syndrome is increased by as much as 40%. Of course the average mother would hear that stat and instantly think that having a down syndrome child is almost a coin flip as she gets older. But what the doctors really meant to say is that "your risk of being the one mother out of 600 that has a child with down syndrome goes up by 40%". Now that's a completely different story. I wish the doctors would say it like this to make it even more comforting for the mother: "Out of every 600 births, 599 of them will not have down syndrome so that means your baby will likely be fine no matter what your age is."
As someone who used to drink socially and a beer during a football game, and then went off the deep end into the land of drunk for whatever the reason, I agree with Baron. It becomes bad when you go over the top and start consuming in quantity. A drink a day, or every so often I find really hard to believe is a death sentence, or even long-term health issue. I'm sure there are some who even small amounts may not be good, but that is the case with a lot of stuff. For me I think I could get back to my days of a drink every so often, but have made the decision to err on the side of caution and have stopped completely. At the same time my wife has a glass of wine 4 or 5 days a week, and I have friends who drink casually. I would say we are all in about the same health.
I understand your point. But neither of us knows at this moment how practically meaningful any such statistical significance may be. So I would not automatically assume it is real-world negligible, although perhaps it may be. We'll know more in time. Then there is the matter of genetic predisposition to certain maladies that may be exacerbated by alcohol or other toxins. Just because others have fared well over time does not guarantee that either of us will necessarily as well. You don't know until you know. I guess it's easy for me to textbook about it since I have no use for alcohol. P.S.: Dr. Marla Shapiro was my family physician between 1988 and 1993, while I was living in Toronto. She was a really good and caring doctor, and drop-dead gorgeous.
My wife's partner who is an OBGYN was pre-diabetic with a blood sugar level of 126. He drank wine every night. After quitting wine his blood sugar dropped to 112, albeit still high but some improvement. So if you are diabetic or pre-diabetic it might help to cut out alcohol.
For now, anyway. Hey, I don't know. But remember when doctors did cigarette ads? Bottom line, and not to sound too evangelical since I'm an atheist, the things we consume that are not good for us (i.e., tobacco, alcohol, sugar, etc.) age our bodies more quickly, which, in turn, subjects us to age-related maladies earlier in life. I suppose the question comes down to quantity consumed and genetics.
I do remember, lol. That did come to mind also as I was typing. I agree, I'm pretty much on the side of it definitely can be bad for you, and we take responsibility for ourselves in that respect. It does become a problem and a big one, with like too many things you go overboard and go big in consumption. Alchohol and drugs are bad for you and have the real potential to harm others when misused. A buddy from college who is a long term dope smoker was in an accident while high. He is fortunate to have not been hurt and the people in the car he hit had no injuries. Sadly, even after that and the bills that are going along with is DUI he is still smoking and eating pot. I would easily say he has a problem and will be impacted in the long run with his health.
I have not watched this particular clip so won't comment on this one, but the starting point of data analysis and scientific research is grouping people by properties or behaviors or conditions. Could it be you are conflating the tolerance level of people towards alcohol consumption with the effects alcohol has on our bodies other than our perception. I believe researchers in the medical field have probably a little more insight into the effects of alcohol than the average person's hunch and own experience with alcohol. I believe the same goes on with the ganja debate: just because ganja does not have the addictive properties that some pundits in the past wanted us to believe does not mean that it might not cause other long term negative effects in other areas. I forecast that in the medium to long term the popular consumption of weed will cause a drag on our productivity, creativity, and effectiveness in life as a civilization. It creates ever more couch potatoes who perform menial jobs from 9 to 5 and peace out the rest of the time. Not sure this is a great development as civilization. Of course there are always the few who know how to handle themselves well. The majority, however, becomes ever more lethargic. Same with alcohol consumption. Potato chips, drinks, and weed are not great contributors to evolution.