Even after controlling for nearly all imaginable variables - socioeconomic status, level of physical activity, number of close friends, quality of social support and so on - the researchers (a six-member team led by psychologist Charles Holahan of the University of Texas at Austin) found that over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who had never been drinkers, second-highest for heavy drinkers and lowest for moderate drinkers.Researchers will, of course, look for their own explanations of these findings. For me, however, the reasons for this phenomenon are clear: people who prissily abstain from alcohol altogether are as likely to deprive themselves from other good things in life such as, for example, sex. So it's no wonder that their bodies give up on this pleasure-free lifestyle sooner rather than later.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
A Lot of Alcohol Is Better Than None
Turns out it's better to be a heavy drinker than to abstain from alcohol completely:
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4 comments:
I would expect something like that from the British Scientists (TM). :)
You see, my friend, this is what real scientists are doing, unlike the useless stuff you and I waste our time on. :-) :-)
I did notice that one thing they didn't mention controlling for was disability, which is a big one, because people on many types of medication are forbidden from drinking. Also, this study waited to look at people 55-65, so maybe all of the really hard drinkers had died off already. It could have been that people with poor health drink less and manage to live far longer than they would have otherwise. Maybe nondrinkers peak death rates at this age where there would have been a peak for heavy drinkers much earlier. Very limited data.
"For me, however, the reasons for this phenomenon are clear: people who prissily abstain from alcohol altogether are as likely to deprive themselves from other good things in life such as, for example, sex." Hey, no fair, I am big on good food and good sex, just no alcohol. Though maybe the 'I don't want to be a crack smoking abusive drunk like my father' group makes up a minority of non-drinkers (my mother also can't drink in moderation, the dice are loaded against me). It is true that the rest of the nondrinkers I have met were either religious or recovering alcoholics...
I was actually trying to be facetious in this post. :-)
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