Study: Abstaining from alcohol significantly shortens life
Category: Health, Science & Technology
Via: buzz-of-the-orient • 5 years ago • 37 commentsBy: HELEN JUPITER
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Study: Abstaining from alcohol significantly shortens life
New research shows that those who imbibe are less likely to die prematurely than those who stay dry.
Photo: Al404 /Flickr
A newly released study shows that regular drinkers are less likely to die prematurely than people who have never indulged in alcohol. You read that right: Time reports that abstaining from alcohol altogether can lead to a shorter life than consistent, moderate drinking.
Surprised? The tightly controlled study, which looked at individuals between ages 55 and 65, spanned a 20-year period and accounted for variables ranging from socioeconomic status to level of physical activity. Led by psychologist Charles Holahan of the University of Texas at Austin, it found that mortality rates were highest for those who had never had a sip, lower for heavy drinkers, and lowest for moderate drinkers who enjoyed one to three drinks per day.
Of the 1,824 study participants, only 41 percent of the moderate drinkers died prematurely compared to a whopping 69 percent of the nondrinkers. Meanwhile, the heavy drinkers fared better than those who abstained, with a 60 percent mortality rate. Despite the increased risks for cirrhosis and several types of cancer, not to mention dependency, accidents and poor judgment associated with heavy drinking, those who imbibe are less likely to die than people who stay dry.
A possible explanation for this is that alcohol can be a great social lubricant, and strong social networks are essential for maintaining mental and physical health. Nondrinkers have been shown to demonstrate greater signs of depression than their carousing counterparts, and in addition to the potential heart health and circulation benefits of moderate drinking (especially red wine), it also increases sociability.
While it’s always important to drink responsibly, this is one study that warrants raising a glass.
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I'll bet THIS is good news for a lot of people.
Very good news
I'll drink to that! (My drink of choice is red wine so I have the additional excuse of antioxidants.)
Well of course you should enjoy the type of Red Wine you like best. But here's an interesting bit of trivia-- the wine with the highest Resveratrol content is Pinot Noir. (Although IIRC, there may be a few other types that come close). So when I drink wine its the one I drink...
It also has lower tannins (a good thing in my opinion).
That's interesting I didn't know that.
You beat me to it. I will also "drink to that".
I usually drink PBR because it's a classy drink but still says I'm here to party....
Not for me. I have never had a drink with alcohol 🍷 🍺 in it. Not sure I buy into this study.
Well
that explains an awful lot
imho
Even the Bible says take a little wine for yourself
https://biblehub.com/1_timothy/5-23.htm
Be careful - that comment is borderline flaggable.
as am i,
and extremely on topic
huh...
I don't drink so I'm in danger..LOL...
Kidney stones. OMG, when they hit it dropped me to my knees and my wife called 911 and they rushed to me to the hospital. They had to give a shot of morphine and Red (my wife) told me that the nurse asked me my name I told her that I was, Alice Cooper....LOL always the smart ass.
Dear Brother Buzz: Le Chayim (Cheers).
P&AB.
Enoch.
Next time I have a glass of wine or a beer (rare these days because I'm vulnerable for gout) I'll raise the glass and say "To Life" in Hebrew to you in return.
TY.
Smiles.
E.
Well this may be nit-picking, but technically the title is incorrect:
Study: Abstaining From Alcohol Significantly Shortens Life
A more accurate title would be:
Study: Abstaining From Alcohol is correlated with a shorter lifespan.
I could be wrong, but from the part I read there doesn't seen to be evidence that abstaining actually shortens lifespan. Rather, people who abstain have a shorter lifespan-- but abstention may not be the cause.
When two variable are correlated, the may or may not be a causal relationship between the two.
(Sometimes there is a causal realtionship between two variables that are correlated, but sometimes there isn't, Often there's a third variable-- a third factor that causes both).
Its all about the proper use of Statistics-- and everybody hates statistics! (But no one knows what causes that phenomenon...). OTOH, even Statistic is more fun than Organic Chem....)
As a former newspaper editor I can point out two reasons why your more accurate longer headline would not be commonly used. Firstly, the shorter the headline is and still gets the point across, the better, and secondly, headlines need to be understandable by average and even below average intelligent readers, so they would NEVER use the word "correlate".
I totally agree with everything you mentioned! :^)
What type of newspaper-- general interest, or one for lawyers? College paper?
I have some experience with a newspaper-- but not as staff. I created an adI used to run, for a course. Many years ago. years ago.I used to teach. It was a small ad-- "one column inch". (That means one column across, only 1 " high!) I ran it in a weekly paper, every week for several years. IIRC it cost me only something like $43/week. (this was > 30 years ago...)
It was just a one sentence description on top, then a small reproduction of our logo, then only my first name and phone number.
In my Junior and Senior years of study for my Bachelor of Arts degree (majoring in English Literature) I was the Editor-in-Chief of the university weekly newspaper. It published news stories of interest to students, along with columns for various interests, an editorial that I wrote, and photos. It won the award for both years for the best university weekly newspaper in Canada. I think the most important story we published that I can recall was about the success of Sputnik.
i majored in minoring, graduated a canary
Training for work in a minor coal mine?
"To alcohol: The cause of, and solution to all of life's problems." ---Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
I don't think I can afford to live to like..........200 years.