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U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

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Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#231
post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ww2 hit russia harder then west which was hit super hard. I know. Russia suffered greatly in ww2. That's my point. It's why I compared ww2 to the soviet collapse. That's how awful the soviet collapse was for russia. It was even worse than ww2. I never claimed the west suffered more than russia in ww2. No country suffered more than russia in ww2. > What happened is that post ww2, people had children. Not only that t…

Childbirths went down everywhere easter and central Europe. And it is not just poverty - if anything midle class and educated women are less likely to have kids. It is often oportunities to not be mom at home that attract women. "Objective analysis" that centers on birthrate only is not objective at all. Especially when it ignores effects of Stalin rule on people and conflates ruling party health with populace health…

> Childbirths went down everywhere easter and central Europe

Yes, warsaw pact nations and former eastern european soviet nations also suffered. But russia suffered the most since they were the core of the soviet union.

> And it is not just poverty - if anything midle class and educated women are less likely to have kids.

I didn't say it was. My point was that the russian population dropped from near 150 million in the early 1990s and is still below that today ( 30 years later ). My point is that in the 90s, russian life expectancy dropped dramatically 10%+ - this is not normal. My point is that russia's economy is nowhere near what it was in 1990s ( second largest economy in the world ).

> Especially when it ignores effects of Stalin rule on people and conflates ruling party health with populace health.

What? As if yeltsin's or putin's rule were any better?

> "Objective analysis" that centers on birthrate only is not objective at all.

I didn't just look at birthrates. You seem to be fixated on it. I'm talking about population. Russia's population declined in 30 years. That's not a good thing - especially for a poor country.

> Comunist regime did not had healthy economy - it is one of reasons why it became weak.

It was healthy enough to be the 2nd largest economy for most of the cold war. The capitalist regime didn't have a healthy economy after the soviet collapse. Even during stalin's purges, the indicators weren't as bad as they were in the 1990s.

I'm just talking about objective stats. Not sure why you are bring communism or stalin into the mix. The 10 years after ww2 were far better for russians than the 10 years after the soviet collapse. This is just statiscal fact. Go look at every measurement. Economic, cultural, political, demographic, etc. The soviet union grew and advanced in nearly every metric during the decade after ww2. Russia declined in every metric during the 10 years after the soviet collapse.

Seems like winning a hot war is better than losing a cold war. I'm not saying communism is good or bad. I'm not saying stalin was good or bad. I'm just saying that russian life was better in the immediate years after ww2 than after the soviet collapse - purely in objective statistical terms.

I'm just talking about the effects of ww2 and the soviet collapse in objective terms. Maybe it's psychological. Winning boosts a nation's confidence and losing destroys a nation's confidence. I don't know. What we know is that 10 years after ww2, russia improved greatly and 10 years after the soviet collapse, russia regressed. Even 30 years later, russia still hasn't gotten back to the starting line.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#232
Alcohol culture differs per region. In most western Europe countries (Netherlands, Germany) alcohol free / low-ABV beer has been gaining a lot of popularity. More and more people, myself included, prefer alcohol free over regular beer, because you get the social benefits without the all the downsides of alcohol.

However, during my visit to Canada last year I asked a waiter at a bar for an alcohol free beer and she basically made fun of me. Making the "that's like sex without an orgasm" joke.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#233
Since we are sharing stories... I moved to East Asia, which can be an adult daycare for Western alcoholics, and realized not only could I drink every night of the week and still have a job, healthcare, significant other, and lots of friends -- this was becoming my life. I quit cold turkey about 8 years ago. Still in Asia, with a lot fewer friends, but getting deep sleep at night, and am able to focus and relax my mind almost on-demand, which was impossible before.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#234
post #206

This is completely off-topic but... The article in question gave an accidental glimpse of a better world or, well, better web. The cookie and data protection dialog asks the usual question. The choices are to agree and continue, or "Decline and Visit Plain Text Site"! What? Someone still does plaintext sites? And to get the plaintext version you also get the privilege of not having to accept any of this: "...use cook…

I love NPR's plain text site. I wish more sites did it. Throw your user stylesheet on it (something like https://writ.cmcenroe.me/) and you're set!

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#235
post #232

Alcohol culture differs per region. In most western Europe countries (Netherlands, Germany) alcohol free / low-ABV beer has been gaining a lot of popularity. More and more people, myself included, prefer alcohol free over regular beer, because you get the social benefits without the all the downsides of alcohol. However, during my visit to Canada last year I asked a waiter at a bar for an alcohol free beer and she ba…

I have never seen alcohol free beer offered in Berlin or Amsterdam. I can’t tell whether I just haven’t noticed, or whether your experience is really specific.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doubtful that this is a valid objection. On the flip side, you would have to also exclude people who drink and drive because they skew mortality stats in ways that are not applicable to those who drink but don’t drive. Also, studies on benefits are not just about pure correlation with longevity but various beneficial effects.

Even excluding violent and chemical death, the third cause is cancer. Alcohol is classified as a carcinogen by IARC[1], the WHO[5] and the CDC[2]. I'm not well read on the subject - nor particularly well researched - but a cursory glance shows metabolic byproducts as the main culprit, though there are other factors. As to "beneficial effects", keep in mind that the trace amounts of something healthy would pale in com…

The point about eating properly and exercising - that’s irrelevant since it’s not mutually exclusive with moderate drinking. You can drink moderately AND eat properly and exercise. The point about alcohol being a carcinogen is sort of irrelevant too since apparently it’s not enough of a carcinogen to affect longevity

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#237
post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I would strongly disagree with this claim. As long as you don’t drink and drive, most people would probably benefit from moderate drinking. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h... https://www.insider.com/drinking-health-benefits-heart-nutri...

> most people At the moment all the evidence we have says that msot people don't get any benefit from drinking. If you're a woman aged over 60 you get some benefit from drinking about one small[1] glass of wine a day (with some days drink free). No-one else gets that benefit. For everyone else the harm increases with dose, although the risks of small amounts of alcohol for most people are very small. https://www.thel…

If you read this carefully, that’s not what this study says. 3 leading causes of death they associate with alcohol globally is tuberculosis, road accidents and self harm. Obviously none of those three apply to a moderate drinker ( who doesn’t drink and drive )

Here is a quote right from this paper “Females, particularly in high SDI locations, experienced some protective effects for ischaemic heart disease and diabetes beyond 60 years of age. For males, only high SDI and low SDI locations had noticeable protective effects for ischaemic heart disease”

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#238
post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people At the moment all the evidence we have says that msot people don't get any benefit from drinking. If you're a woman aged over 60 you get some benefit from drinking about one small[1] glass of wine a day (with some days drink free). No-one else gets that benefit. For everyone else the harm increases with dose, although the risks of small amounts of alcohol for most people are very small. https://www.thel…

If you read this carefully, that’s not what this study says. 3 leading causes of death they associate with alcohol globally is tuberculosis, road accidents and self harm. Obviously none of those three apply to a moderate drinker ( who doesn’t drink and drive ) Here is a quote right from this paper “Females, particularly in high SDI locations, experienced some protective effects for ischaemic heart disease and diabete…

> Obviously none of those three apply to a moderate drinker

I don't think you can say that.

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#239
Did they cite age specific death rates?

Population is up 20-30%, and the population of people likely to die of alcohol poisoning much more so due to changing age structure.

Additionally, we lost a generation that had memories of prohibition and an active temperance movement, and we've had a dramatic increase in women's labor force and higher education participation, enabling them to drink as often as men.

So the "doubled" comment seems overly dramatic

Re: U.S. alcohol-related deaths have doubled, study says

#240
Ok so now I’ve been running around looking at charts.

To clarify: I think alcohol can be a pernicious social and mental health problem.

But there’s also something weird with 1999. Suicides seemed lowest that year and I think that might relate to the drinking deaths as well.

Which makes comparing to that year a little dicey, because I think it creates a false sense of a trend that might not exist.

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