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Why Alcohol Is Good for You

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Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You

#21

Post by stavrianos »

retube wrote: post #12
etal wrote: post #10

Complete abstinence from alcohol is also correlated with lower education level and poverty. People with less certainty and control over their lives are more likely to distrust alcohol, justifiably -- the risk that comes with it is more serious for them.

Hmm, I'm quite surprised. For sure, high levels of alcoholism are correlated with poverty and lack of education. Random study: "In the weighted model, a one-unit increase in neighborhood poverty at the prior examination was associated with a 86% increase in the odds of binging" http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Abstract/2010/07000/The_Relat... Anecdotally, all the cases of alcohol abuse I hear about tend to be in disadv…

Homes might be disadvantaged by the presence of an alcoholic. A friend of mine came from a home like this- her father spent truly stupendous amounts on alcohol. There was never enough money afterwards.

Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You

#22

Post by carbocation »

carbocation wrote: post #18
travisp wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While true, it's not just correlation that alcohol may be good for you. There's growing evidence that, among other things, alcohol boosts your HDL (good) cholesterol. For one controlled study see: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/102/19/2347 The conclusion from the controlled study? "Alcohol intake increases HDL-C in a dose-dependent fashion, associated with and possibly caused by an increase in the TR of…

But now we are several steps removed from the outcome of interest. We can postulate the following: EtOH -> higher HDL -> increased reverse cholesterol transport (or another HDL function) -> reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. But there is a problem here. While higher HDL epidemiologically correlates with reduced CVD, the only clinical trial of a drug that purely raises HDL showed increased mortality. Now, the tri…

Given that this actually is my area of expertise, I'd be quite interested to hear an explanation for the downvotes.

Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You

#23

Post by mcn »

retube wrote: post #12
etal wrote: post #10

Complete abstinence from alcohol is also correlated with lower education level and poverty. People with less certainty and control over their lives are more likely to distrust alcohol, justifiably -- the risk that comes with it is more serious for them.

Hmm, I'm quite surprised. For sure, high levels of alcoholism are correlated with poverty and lack of education. Random study: "In the weighted model, a one-unit increase in neighborhood poverty at the prior examination was associated with a 86% increase in the odds of binging" http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Abstract/2010/07000/The_Relat... Anecdotally, all the cases of alcohol abuse I hear about tend to be in disadv…

I'm not sure about the wider population, but the abstainers in the study linked by the article were both "lower SES" and more likely to have had drinking problems in the past.

Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You

#24

Post by [deleted] »

jseifer wrote: post #2

Summary: the author of the article speculates that moderate alcohol consumption leads people to socialize and not be lonely. People who are lonely are more likely to die from "just about everything." There's no actual study done here -- the author only references other studies. This article is about the author's hypothesis.

[deleted]

Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You

#25

Post by mcn »

jseifer wrote: post #2

Summary: the author of the article speculates that moderate alcohol consumption leads people to socialize and not be lonely. People who are lonely are more likely to die from "just about everything." There's no actual study done here -- the author only references other studies. This article is about the author's hypothesis.

Which is weird, given that the most interesting thing about the study linked in the article is that it has more controls than previous alcohol mortality studies, including social behavior factors, and it still finds that moderate drinking correlates with reduced mortality rates among older white adults.

Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You

#26

Post by tshtf »

carbocation wrote: post #18
travisp wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While true, it's not just correlation that alcohol may be good for you. There's growing evidence that, among other things, alcohol boosts your HDL (good) cholesterol. For one controlled study see: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/102/19/2347 The conclusion from the controlled study? "Alcohol intake increases HDL-C in a dose-dependent fashion, associated with and possibly caused by an increase in the TR of…

But now we are several steps removed from the outcome of interest. We can postulate the following: EtOH -> higher HDL -> increased reverse cholesterol transport (or another HDL function) -> reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. But there is a problem here. While higher HDL epidemiologically correlates with reduced CVD, the only clinical trial of a drug that purely raises HDL showed increased mortality. Now, the tri…

Doesn't niacin reduce mortality?

Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You

#27

Post by Psyonic »

randallsquared wrote: post #9

Since I've taken up light drinking almost entirely for the health benefits, and since I don't drink socially, I hope this hypothesis isn't really the answer. The other day when a co-worker was trying to get me to go to a scotch tasting, he said, "What, do you only drink at home, alone, in the dark?!" I replied that it wasn't usually dark... :)

Even if your focus is health, why does it always have to be at home, alone?

Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You

#28

Post by carbocation »

tshtf wrote: post #26
carbocation wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But now we are several steps removed from the outcome of interest. We can postulate the following: EtOH -> higher HDL -> increased reverse cholesterol transport (or another HDL function) -> reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. But there is a problem here. While higher HDL epidemiologically correlates with reduced CVD, the only clinical trial of a drug that purely raises HDL showed increased mortality. Now, the tri…

Doesn't niacin reduce mortality?

Yes, but it is not a pure HDL modifier: it also reduces LDL-C, so it is not clear which effect leads to niacin's benefits (both could, to be fair).

Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You

#29

Post by randallsquared »

Psyonic wrote: post #27
randallsquared wrote: post #9

Since I've taken up light drinking almost entirely for the health benefits, and since I don't drink socially, I hope this hypothesis isn't really the answer. The other day when a co-worker was trying to get me to go to a scotch tasting, he said, "What, do you only drink at home, alone, in the dark?!" I replied that it wasn't usually dark... :)

Even if your focus is health, why does it always have to be at home, alone?

It doesn't have to be -- my co-worker was successful at getting me to agree to go out with the group -- but typically, if I'm around more than a couple people with whom I'm expected to interact, I'm not going to be having fun, so why waste alcohol on that situation? With lowered inhibitions, I might actually announce that I'm not having fun. :)
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