No amount of alcohol is good for your overall health, global study says

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

More people will die in the soon future of all the poison they put in the food today than from alcohol. I got Thai friends in their 40s and 50s battling cancer, people who never been drinking or smoking.  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Whatever happened to the supposed medical advice that a glass of wine per day is good for one's cardiovascular health?

 

From this latest CNN report:

 

Quote

"The most surprising finding was that even small amounts of alcohol use contribute to health loss globally," said senior study author Emmanuela Gakidou, a professor at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. "We're used to hearing that a drink or two a day is fine. But the evidence is the evidence."

 

Edited August 24, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Cadbury]

For those considering slashing their wrists here is some encouraging and more up-to-date news. 

Booze can be good for you........if taken regularly and with moderation. Cheers!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/heart-disease-alcohol-drinking-moderate-risk-uk-study-a8501726.html

[transam]

Just now, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Whatever happened to the supposed medical advice that a glass of wine per day is good for one's cardiovascular health?

 

 

Fink the bloke that wrote this stuff was a biased teetotaler....

[mok199]

5 hours ago, Thian said:

Thai beers give me a steady headache after 2  small bottles....European natural brewed beers don't do that.

 

So i guess it can't be healthy to drink Thai beer if it hurts my brains so bad.

I  too have a ''beer migraine trigger'' ..i so miss a pint of Guinness now and then,but i don't take the chance anymore,as the migrains are too fierce

[Enoon]

 

When the consequences of a lifetimes "focused" drinking really start to kick in the individuals concerned seem to change their attitude dramatically.

 

When it happens it happens quite quickly.

 

I've been seeing a lot of that over the past decade as old acquaintances fall foul of it.

 

None of them (RIP) have been anywhere near average life expectancy.

 

They seem quite surprised and fearful that it's actually happening to them.

 

Except for the hard core, self-administering, "anaesthetists".

 

It's the apex of their "career".

 

 

 

 

[peterb17]

10 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

Try a few beers AND some wine.  The grape and the grain.  ?

Will do , must admit usually stick to wine ( these days costs an absolute fortune ) 

 

I have a case of Leo somewhere and couple of cases of Malbec - my favourite tipple - will report back .

Was always told Port is the worst - but saving that for Christmas lunch - 1400 baht a bottle - it’s insane . 

[Small Joke]

It's far too hot to go out drinking in overalls here anyway.

[55Jay]

Just now, peterb17 said:

Will do , must admit usually stick to wine ( these days costs an absolute fortune ) 

 

I have a case of Leo somewhere and couple of cases of Malbec - my favourite tipple - will report back .

Was always told Port is the worst - but saving that for Christmas lunch - 1400 baht a bottle - it’s insane . 

LOL.  Never mix the grape and the grain. 

 

Hang overs aren't fun.  You're not missing anything. 

[peterb17]

1 minute ago, 55Jay said:

LOL.  Never mix the grape and the grain. 

 

Hang overs aren't fun.  You're not missing anything. 

 

Messing about a bit , but over dinner with friends  can certainly get through a lot of wine - seem OK the next day.

What happens to my liver I don’t think about ( as I taught Human anatomy and physiology and molecular cell biology for 20yrs ) it’s not good! 

 

Oh well , you only have one life and I have no wish to live into my 90’s

 

You never know what is around the corner . 

[CGW]

3 hours ago, transam said:

No beer, no smoking, no nufink now in our iPhone world.......We will all live in plastic bags from birth soon.....

Now I wonder how I can tell my forefathers that lived well into their 80/90's they could have lived longer if they didn't drink, smoke and did nufink but had an iPhone...?

possibly one of the the reasons they lived into their 80/90s was they didn't have to listen to all the crap we have to on a daily basis ? 

More scaremongering ?

 

[55Jay]

2 minutes ago, peterb17 said:

 

Messing about a bit , but over dinner with friends  can certainly get through a lot of wine - seem OK the next day.

What happens to my liver I don’t think about ( as I taught Human anatomy and physiology and molecular cell biology for 20yrs ) it’s not good! 

 

Oh well , you only have one life and I have no wish to live into my 90’s

 

You never know what is around the corner . 

I thought I detected a light heartedness in your comment but sometimes it gets lost in text. 

 

Agreed.  I've recently made an effort to cut back on frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption.  I was becoming a fixture at one or two of the locals and in moments of critical self-awareness, didn't like what I saw.  And hangovers aren't any fun either, it was tiresome.  ?

 

Happy sipping!  Cheers, J.

[tropo]

24 minutes ago, transam said:

Fink the bloke that wrote this stuff was a biased teetotaler....

I'm a teetotaler, but I still think this report is the biggest load of bs I've ever read. It's so stupid it doesn't deserve any intelligent response.

 

As a lifetime non-drinker and non-smoker, I still have my fair share of age-related health issues. All of them right on cue for my age. I won't have to worry about liver cirrhosis or emphysema, but there's plenty of other degenerative diseases to go around.

 

 

[GreasyFingers]

It may not be the best for your physical well being but what about your mental health. I probably would have killed someone by now if I didn't have the alcohol to calm me down after a bad day.

[tropo]

22 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

It may not be the best for your physical well being but what about your mental health. I probably would have killed someone by now if I didn't have the alcohol to calm me down after a bad day.

If you're gaining a benefit in mental health, your physical health will benefit by default as they are intimately connected. I have no doubt that many people that drink lightly to relieve stress are improving their overall health. As a non-drinker, mental stress can become quite problematic. Sure, there are other ways to relieve stress, but we're not comparing one person with another here. We are considering how much effect alcohol has on overall health per individual.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2018 by tropo

[Tchooptip]

3 hours ago, transam said:

No beer, no smoking, no nufink now in our iPhone world.......We will all live in plastic bags from birth soon.....

Now I wonder how I can tell my forefathers that lived well into their 80/90's they could have lived longer if they didn't drink, smoke and did nufink but had an iPhone...?

"Now I wonder how I can tell my forefathers that lived well into their 80/90's"  

The food was much healthier, people fertilized the crops with manure, not so-called magic chemicals, which in fact are just poison to bring dollars back to mafia manufacturers, the crops soils were richer because not at all over-exploited like today, the fruits and vegetables were full of vitamins. The cows in the meadows were eating grass and not crap pills in their prison-like stables, the farmers did not feed them antibiotics, ditto for chickens!

Much less pollution everywhere, Roundup's Monsanto mess did not exist yet.

The oceans were not full of mercury and the fish not poisoned! 
 

[bristolboy]

3 hours ago, transam said:

 

Now I wonder how I can tell my forefathers that lived well into their 80/90's they could have lived longer if they didn't drink, smoke and did nufink but had an iPhone...?

Really? Here's a graph that shows how much life expectancy has increased for people aged 65 and older. It's especially revealing because it eliminates the effects of infant and child mortality. If those were included, life expectancy in previous times would look a lot worse:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/compendium/nationalpopulationprojections/2014-03-28/chapter4mortality2012basednppreferencevolume

[Hummin]

4 hours ago, transam said:

Well it is..................for me.....

First reactions to the survey

 

 

[BritManToo]

26 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

"Now I wonder how I can tell my forefathers that lived well into their 80/90's"  

The food was much healthier, people fertilized the crops with manure, not so-called magic chemicals, which in fact are just poison to bring dollars back to mafia manufacturers, the crops soils were richer because not at all over-exploited like today, the fruits and vegetables were full of vitamins. The cows in the meadows were eating grass and not crap pills in their prison-like stables, the farmers did not feed them antibiotics, ditto for chickens!

Much less pollution everywhere, Roundup's Monsanto mess did not exist yet.

The oceans were not full of mercury and the fish not poisoned! 
 

We've actually never had it so good.

For the past history of man, people were mostly hungry, diseased and decimated by wars.

Edited August 24, 2018 by BritManToo

[BritManToo]

21 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Really? Here's a graph that shows how much life expectancy has increased for people aged 65 and older. It's especially revealing because it eliminates the effects of infant and child mortality. If those were included, life expectancy in previous times would look a lot worse:

Not sure that graph means anything,

In these modern days we kill more in the womb than ever died in childhood.

Most of my pals have already died aged 50-70, I only know 1 guy that's made it past 70.

Wouldn't put it past the government and pensions people to fake statistics showing longer lives, in order to justify reduced or delayed pensions.

Edited August 24, 2018 by BritManToo

[GOLDBUGGY]

5 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Me: Doctor, if I give up beer, will I live longer?

Doctor: Not really, but it will just seem like it.

 

Remeber this!

 

There is a lot more Old Drunks out there then there is Old Doctors!

[bristolboy]

10 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Not sure that graph means anything,

In these modern days we kill more in the womb than ever died in childhood.

Most of my pals have already died aged 50-70, I only know 1 guy that's made it past 70.

Wouldn't put it past the government and pensions people to fake statistics showing longer lives, in order to justify reduced or delayed pensions.

Sure. A massive conspiracy to post fake statistics. I guess that's reasonable. If you're living in denial.

[wgdanson]

2 hours ago, 55Jay said:

Try a few beers AND some wine.  The grape and the grain.  ?

Load of rubbish, alcohol is alcohol no matter where it comes from.

[German farang]

7 hours ago, RotMahKid said:

Nobody told me to stop with alcohol, but I stopped anyway about 5 years ago. I can tell you I don't feel bloody miserable at al, on the contrary I feel much better and enjoy much more activities ten before, but it's every bodies own  choise.

Agree. Done same long years ago. 

[hugocnx]

8 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Maybe not, but I shall continue to consume it in moderation, as I enjoy it, and, to me, it is a nice sociable activity ?. 

Alcohol makes me so happy that I don't bother.

[khunPer]

I seriously consider to stop...   ...reading the ThaiVisa news...?

[partington]

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Whatever happened to the supposed medical advice that a glass of wine per day is good for one's cardiovascular health?

 

From this latest CNN report:

 

 

Nothing happened to that: the positive effects on protection from ischemic heart disease were seen in this study, as they have been in almost every study ever done.

 

The point was that when you combine the total effect of alcohol consumption on all diseases : cancer, stroke, TB, diabetes, and,stretching a bit here, but I suppose it IS valid - car accidents, self harm, violence, other accidents, the cardiovascular benefit is cancelled out.

 

However the risk increase at moderate levels is so low, even in this study, that one could validly decide this is a risk one will voluntarily accept (slightly less chance of keeling over from heart attack, slightly more chance of oral or liver cancer etc).

 

This is slightly obscure because these studies are all expressed in terms of relative, not absolute, risk.

 

To illustrate, you could say "wearing a tiepin doubles your chance of being struck by lightning", and that sounds scary. But if your chance of being struck by lightning is 1 in 10 million (as I read it is in the UK) then doubling your risk means it's now 1 in 5 million, so no real absolute difference at all.

 

Similarly the "wow" factor here of there being no safe consumption levels is a bit crap. One standard drink a day  or 1.3 UK units ( less than one bottle of Thai beer at 1.65 units) increases your health risk by 0.5%.

 

But this is nothing: if your 10 year absolute teetotal risk of getting heart disease or a cancer is, say, 1 in 20 [=20 in 400 , meaning that out of a group of 400 teetotal people with your exact health characteristics ,  20 will get cancer or heart disease in the next 10 years ]  then a similar group of 400 who drink one standard unit a day have a risk that 21 of them will get a heart attack or cancer.

 

So for people who drink what I drink,  about 3.4 standard drinks a day on average [4.3 UK units or approx two and a half bottles of Thai beer], reading the excess risk off the curves in the paper is about 1.2. This means that, as above, if your 10 year teetotal risk of heart disease and cancer is 20 in a group of 400, then the 10 year risk for a group of 400 drinking this amount is  24  out of 400, or about one extra person in a hundred will suffer because of the drinking.

 

I am willing to absorb this risk, ...but not much more (as someone pointed out there is no safe level of driving either, as driving is always more risky than never driving) .

 

 

[AsiaHand]

I am going with the old study that says two shots a day in good for your blood .So far if I quit drinking today I should be immune for any blood disorder for the next 25 years.

[Grusa]

To cut it all short, I quote my uncle, who was a well-respected radiologist in Africa, and died quickly and painlessly at 80ish,

"Moderation in all things. A little of what you fancy does you good, and two well-watered whiskies of a night never did anyone any harm."

[tropo]

3 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Really? Here's a graph that shows how much life expectancy has increased for people aged 65 and older. It's especially revealing because it eliminates the effects of infant and child mortality. If those were included, life expectancy in previous times would look a lot worse:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/compendium/nationalpopulationprojections/2014-03-28/chapter4mortality2012basednppreferencevolume

How revealing is it really (with regards to drinking)? I would think a lot of heavy drinkers and smokers have already passed away before they reach age 65. My father was a heavy drinker and smoker and passed away at age 49.