Wine for our health? Not so fast ...

[Robin Garr]

Okay, this is troubling, but is it real or anti-alcohol propaganda? Or playing at the edges of statistics where small numbers look big? I have a hard time evaluating these things. What do you all think?

It’s time to rethink how much booze may be too much

Researchers are changing how they study the risks of alcohol — and it’s making drinking look worse.

https://www.vox.com/2018/4/24/17242720/ ... isks-facts

[David M. Bueker]

Simple question: why are there any French or Italian people still alive? These studies always strike me as agenda driven.

This Lancet study has been given quite some airing in the UK beneath lurid headlines like "One extra drink per week takes half an hour off your life expectation". Lancet has a good reputation for serious articles so their findings can't be dismissed lightly in spite of the headlines.

On the basis that 5 drinks per week is the safe limit, I've been exceeding that by at least 20 drinks per week for over 45 years leading to a loss of life expectation of nearly 3 years. I can't help feeling some scepticism and have a lot of sympathy for the following -

"Doctor, if I give up drinking will I live longer?"
"No. But it will certainly seem like it !"

As the article states, this sort of science is in its infancy. Meanwhile everyone will need to decide his/her own approach by balancing quality of life considerations against hopes of increased longevity.