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Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

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Re: Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

#91

Post by architgupta »

noname123 wrote: post #59

While we are at it, can we list some other addictions that we use to cope with life. Me personally, it's gambling, pornography, sulking alone, facebooking acquaintances to see how they're doing better than me or worse, checking sports score and living vicariously through the lives of professional athletes on and off the field, checking TechCrunch/Hack News and doing the same with tech billionaires, making up lists an…

Things which may help, in no particular order:

Play a sport you like, work on a project you enjoy (hack on something small and put it out in the world), make a few good friends and maybe work with them (not easy but worthwhile), remain intellectually honest (write down your thoughts / emotions).

Its a cliche to say it, but the gap is creation vs consumption.

Re: Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

#92

Post by chrischen »

ufo wrote: post #50
rwmj wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Technically could be prevented" .. how? Prohibition didn't work out well, and people can make booze with some fruit juice, air and a radiator even in the most extremely regulated environments[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruno

Prohibition is not the only alternative out there. For example, tobacco was never outlawed but now many countries place heavy taxes and advertisement restrictions on it. Overall its become a much less acceptable habit than it used to be and cigarrete related illness has gone down.

That's also do to teaching the kids at a young age. Social acceptance was the main factor, and will be the main factor in limiting alcohol usage (if it does happen).

Re: Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

#93

Post by TeMPOraL »

dbrannan wrote: post #56

I remember asking my father why he never drank alcohol. He said, "My dad (your grandfather) and three brothers couldn't leave it alone, so I figure I wouldn't be able to either. If you are wise you will do the same." I'm 46 and never had an alcoholic drink.

I admire your resolve. Keep it that way.

I drank my first beer when I was 18 years old. That was the only beer that year. When 19 I drank two. When 20 I drank four. When 21 I drank eight (yes, really!). Around 23 I started drinking like everyone else. It's funny because I initially didn't drink by choice - thanks to religious upbringing + the general distaste for beer I refused to drink (and, sadly, partying[0]) alcohol, opting for coke instead. What I learned then is that alcoholic beverages just start to taste more the more you drink them.

[0] - It's not the booze I didn't drink that I regret; it's the connections with interesting people of various trades I could make, but didn't, because I haven't attended the university grills, etc.

Re: Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

#94

Post by indlebe »

lostlogin wrote: post #70
indlebe wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>if you're being sarcastic what's "sarcastic"? >there are other ways alcohol affects men and women differently. sources please? :)

I would have thought that 30 seconds thought would give a few of the answers. Basic anatomical differences like a uterus and breasts are part of the equation. http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/women_alcohol.htm

>I would have thought that 30 seconds thought would give a few of the answers.

How does thinking produce answers?

>Basic anatomical differences like a uterus and breasts are part of the equation.

But what about hermaphrodites?

I would have thought that 30 seconds thought would give you the impression that I'm being super serious.

Re: Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

#95

Post by joshbert »

dbrannan wrote: post #56

I remember asking my father why he never drank alcohol. He said, "My dad (your grandfather) and three brothers couldn't leave it alone, so I figure I wouldn't be able to either. If you are wise you will do the same." I'm 46 and never had an alcoholic drink.

I had a similar experience to your father growing up and that's exactly the conclusion I reached. Learning what not to do through the example of others can be quite efficient.

Re: Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

#97

Post by LnxPrgr3 »

ryanmim wrote: post #54
alcoholcomment wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father drank way too much throughout his adult life and now he has what is effectively dementia, please reduce your consumption of alcohol, the physical impact of alcohol abuse does not compare to the impact that it will have on your brain. My father can't remember what happened a few minutes ago and he will die alone, because of alcoholism. Please don't underestimate the impact that alcohol will have on your ment…

Hey thanks for this man. Yes Korsakoff's is something I've worried about, and the symptoms are terrifying. However, the cause of Korsakoff's syndrome is a vitamin deficiency, and it's easily avoided by an informed alcoholic who maintains a decent diet. In this case I feel like a hopeless addict trying to rationalize his addiction in any way possible, but people who want to drink REALLY want to drink, and they will fi…

Korsakoff's syndrome isn't the only kind of brain damage caused by drinking. Other failure modes include hepatic encephalopathy caused by cirrhosis and alcohol-related dementia, which includes but isn't limited to the consequences of B1 deficiency.

There's also something called kindling that makes each withdrawal episode worse than the last, and is believed to make frequent binge drinking especially dangerous. Besides making withdrawal worse, it's associated with cognitive deficits and mental health problems.

Then, there's the increased risk of traumatic brain injury that comes from being drunk, especially if you're crazy enough to drive drunk; or the increased risk of deciding to play with a flamethrower after a few shots of Everclear.

Definitely get your vitamins if you're feeding an alcohol addiction, but know it's harm reduction, not harm elimination. As far as I can tell, there is no known way to make heavy drinking safe.

Re: Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

#98

Post by LnxPrgr3 »

randallsquared wrote: post #38
YokoZar wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Automotive accidents are high in part due to alcohol though.

High relative to what? Automobile accident deaths per 100K have dropped by more than half since 1980, and by nearly a third since 2000. Even in absolute numbers, they've been declining pretty steadily for many years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in...

Modern cars have made it a lot safer to be in a crash. I'd hate to have been driving the 1959 Bel Air in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_r5UJrxcck

Still, since not much else is likely to kill the average American 20-something, car crashes rank relatively high, and alcohol remains involved in about a third of all fatal crashes in the US.

Re: Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

#99

Post by lostlogin »

mtdewcmu wrote: post #69
ggreer wrote: post #2

The actual study is: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/13_0293.htm . It's also available as a PDF: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/pdf/13_0293.pdf

Someone will have to parse the study to find out what's really happening. My guess is that most of the deaths that are being called alcohol-related are not chronic alcoholics; most are probably accidents and violence in which alcohol had been consumed at some point. So, I would be cautious about reading causation into those statistics.

There was a document published not too long ago about Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand which would possibly support what you're saying. A huge percentage of the emergency department admissions had been drinking. The below link is similar, but related only to accidents. The gist being that people admitted to hospital following an unintentional injury are often under the influence of alcohol. Small study, 2000ish participant, 20% ish screened for alcohol, 50% were under influence. http://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal/120-1249/2417/content.pdf

Re: Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults

#100

Post by x1798DE »

dbrannan wrote: post #56

I remember asking my father why he never drank alcohol. He said, "My dad (your grandfather) and three brothers couldn't leave it alone, so I figure I wouldn't be able to either. If you are wise you will do the same." I'm 46 and never had an alcoholic drink.

As a counter-point, I also had heavy alcoholism and drug use on both sides of my family. I drink in moderation, primarily on social occasions, and I almost never drink to the point of inebriation. I have never felt any compulsion to drink to excess.
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