The Benefit of Alcohol: A Glass Half-Full

The Washington Post

 

People often justify their evening nightcap by pointing to alcohol's ability to protect the heart. But alcohol harms far more people than it helps. That's especially true for men, since they tend to drink more than women and are more likely to binge-drink.

The health benefits of alcohol come from moderate drinking, and most of the risks come from excessive consumption. So you may be tempted to say, "Alcohol may be bad for the population overall, but it's okay for me." While that may be generally true, there are exceptions.

Even moderate drinking can contribute to certain cancers, for example, so the risks may outweigh the benefits for people at high risk of those malignancies. And moderate drinking can cause more harm that good if it leads to excessive consumption.

The benefits

Moderate, regular drinking - generally no more than one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men - raises HDL (good) cholesterol and cuts the risk of death from heart disease by about 25 percent. It may also help prevent Type 2 diabetes and ischemic strokes, the kind caused by blood clots.

The risks

Each drink may increase the risk of cancers of the colon, rectum, liver, mouth and throat, and, in women, the breast. Alcohol can also contribute to birth defects, depression and hemorrhagic strokes, the kind caused by bleeding in the brain. Heavy drinking can harm the liver and heart as well as increase the risk of accidents, addiction and violence. So can binge drinking, which is defined as more than three drinks in any one day for women and more than four for men.

The balance

The benefits of moderate drinking appear to be highest among people at increased risk of heart disease, notably men about 40 or older and women about 50 or older. In younger people, the increased risk of accidents, cancer and violence may erase that benefit.

The bottom line

No one should start drinking because of alcohol's possible health benefits. Those with a known drinking problem or certain medical conditions, and those who take medications that interact with alcohol should avoid alcohol or restrict their intake. But current drinkers don't need to stop, if they truly have it under control.

To see if you do, ask yourself these questions:

l Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking?

l Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?

l Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking?

l Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says that if you answer "yes" to two or more of these questions, you most likely have a problem and should talk with a physician or consider a treatment program such as alcoholics anonymous.

Booze Tax Hikes May Reduce Alcohol-Related Problems

Bloomberg / BusinessWeek

 

Boosting taxes on alcohol leads to lower rates of alcohol-related disease, injury, death and crime, researchers say.

University of Florida investigators analyzed 50 published papers that estimated the health and social effects of alcohol taxes or prices. The study authors concluded that higher alcohol taxes have a greater impact than drinking prevention programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

The results of the meta-analysis suggest that doubling the average state tax on alcohol would result, on average, in a 35 percent reduction in alcohol-related deaths, an 11 percent reduction in traffic crash deaths, a 6 percent reduction in sexually transmitted diseases, a 2 percent reduction in violence and a 1.4 percent reduction in crime.

The study findings were released online Sept. 23 in advance of publication in the November print issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

The findings "clearly show increasing the price of alcohol will result in significant reductions in many of the undesirable outcomes associated with drinking," lead author Alexander C. Wagenaar, a professor of health outcomes and policy at the University of Florida College of Medicine, said in a news release from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

"Simply adjusting decades-old tax rates to account for inflation could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in law enforcement and health care costs," Wagenaar added.

In a previous study, the same team of researchers found that a 10 percent increase in alcohol price leads to a 5 percent reduction in alcohol consumption.

"Taken together, these two studies establish beyond any reasonable doubt that, as the price of alcohol goes up, alcohol consumption and the rates of adverse outcomes related to consumption go down," Wagenaar said.

"The strength of these findings suggests that tax increases may be the most effective way we have to prevent excessive drinking -- and also have drinkers pay more of their fair share for the damages caused and costs incurred," he concluded.

The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy devoted to public health.

In a news release issued Thursday afternoon, Distilled Spirits Council Vice President Lisa Hawkins said: "Numerous studies, including research from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, show that alcohol abusers are the least sensitive to tax increases. It is the moderate responsible consumer who cuts back the most when prices rise.

"According to scientific studies, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with the lowest all-cause mortality compared to non-drinkers. It makes no sense to penalize moderate drinkers to pay for the abuse of a few, particularly when raising taxes will not reduce problems associated with abuse. For example, according to government statistics, there is no relationship between alcohol excise tax rates and alcohol-related traffic fatalities," she said.

Report: Smoking in Decline while Alcohol, Drug Use Hold Steady

USA Today

A new report on substance abuse and mental health shows a small percentage of people are kicking smoking while alcohol and illicit drug-use levels remain steady.

But the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, out Thursday, also carries home the message that while all states have problems, there are big variations across the U.S. For instance, the rate of illicit drug use in Iowa (5.2%) among the 12 and older set is less than half what it is in Rhode Island (12.5%).

Many of the trends are similar to past studies, according to Art Hughes, one of the report's lead statisticians, but he cited "the adverse relationship between (perception of) risk of use and use itself" as worthy of examining at the state level.

In states where people reported having a perception of great risk about substance abuse, the problem is more often reported at lower levels than in states where risk is not as great a concern, according to the study, based on the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. The 2006-2007 interview data is collected from 135,672 persons and is compared to the 2005-2006 data. Smoking declined from 24.96% to 24.63% with the greatest decrease among 12 to 25 year olds.

"Cigarette use continues to decline," says Hughes. "One statistic we use to try to gauge is the (perceived) risk of smoking cigarettes. If people think it's risky to use cigarettes, we tend to see an opposite effect happening."

For instance, California is among the states with highest percentage of people who regard smoking as a health hazard (77.35%) and had the second lowest smoking rate (19.79%) behind Utah (17.51%). Utah's perception of risk was slightly lower (76.93%) than California's. Nationwide, a slight drop was recorded compared to 2005-2006 (74.14% vs 73.86%). West Virginia, on the other hand, has the highest rate of cigarette users of all states (31.10%) for people aged 12 and older and has the lowest perception of risk level associated with smoking (67.88%). Oklahoma and Tennessee, which ranked No. 2 and 3 behind West Virginia for percentages of smokers, were also among states with lowest perception of risk.

"We're painfully aware of the problem," said Teresa Mace, media director of West Virginia's Office of Community Health Systems and Health Promotion. "We have a state tobacco quit line and other kinds of cessation programs that are offered to all West Virginians. We've gotten a lot better at getting our message to the people who need to know but it's hard to match the amounts spent by the tobacco industry."

Colorado is the only state showing an increase in tobacco use (from 26.5% to 29.8%) while seven states had declines: Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New York, Utah and West Virginia. The Northeast region had a decrease as well (from 28.1% to 27.1%). Overall, national rates changed only slightly (24.6%) from the 2005-2006 report (25%).

Alcohol still leads tobacco as the most commonly used substance. The perceived risk associated with binge drinking (having five or more drinks once or twice a week) also played a role in levels of drinking and binge drinking among underage drinkers. North Dakota, which ranked highest in both categories, ranked a lowly 47th among states in perception of risk.

Drinking for the group of people over the age of 12 had similar results. New Hampshire, which ranked No. 3 behind Rhode Island and Connecticut, had the lowest percentage (33.21%) of perception of risk. Rhode Island and Connecticut also ranked among the lowest 10.

"We produce this as a reference document for the states, " says Joe Gfroerer, director of the division of population surveys. "It can lead to more in-depth analysis and discussion about whether drug treatment centers within the states can help with problems."

Rhode Island had the highest percentage of persons aged 12 or older who were needing but not receiving treatment for illicit drug use. The other states that ranked highest for needing but not receiving treatment for alcohol problems or drug rehab were mostly midwestern (Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin) or westerm (Colorado, Montana and Wyoming.) The District of Columbia and Massachusetts are in the top 10.

HOW STATES COMPARE ON SUBSTANCE USE

The new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration captures states or jurisdictions with the highest and lowest levels of substance abuse. States in the top 5 and bottom 5 of various categories:

Illicit drug use in past month

Highest:
• Rhode Island: 12.5%
• District of Columbia: 12.13%
• Vermont: 11.49%
• Colorado: 10.96%
• Alaska: 10.74%

Lowest:
• Iowa: 5.2%
• North Dakota: 6.2%
• Utah: 6.43%
• South Carolina: 6.55%
• Texas: 6.65%

Marijuana use in past year

Highest:
• Rhode Island: 16.12%
• Vermont: 15.75%
• District of Columbia: 15.72%
• New Hampshire: 13.82%
• Alaska: 13.79%

Lowest marijuana use:
• Utah: 7.12%
• Mississippi: 7.79%
• Texas: 7.92%
• Alabama: 7.96%
• Oklahoma: 8.51%

Cocaine use in the past year

Highest:
• District of Columbia: 5.10%
• Rhode Island: 4.11%
• Arizona: 3.18%
• Colorado: 3.15%
• Massachusetts: 2.99%

Lowest:
• Mississippi: 1.63%
• Idaho/South Dakota/North Dakota: 1.73%
• Oklahoma: 1.86%
• New Jersey: 1.88%
• Nebraska: 1.9%

Alcohol use in past month

Highest:
• Rhode Island: 63.05%
• Connecticut: 62.17%
• New Hampshire: 61.92%
• Wisconsin: 61.54%
• Minnesota: 60.71%

Lowest:
• Utah: 30.85%.Mississippi: 36.95%
• West Virginia: 36.98%
• Alabama: 39.84%
• Tennessee: 40.22%

Binge alcohol use in past month

Highest:
• North Dakota: 32.02%
• Wisconsin: 28.84%
• Minnesota: 28.75%
• District of Columbia: 28.64%
• South Dakota: 28.34%

Lowest:
• Utah: 15.64%
• Mississippi: 18.74%
• Alabama: 18.77%
• West Virginia: 18.79%
• Tennessee: 19.19%

Cigarette use in past month

Highest:
• West Virginia: 31.10%
• Oklahoma: 30.64%
• Kentucky: 30.36%
• Tennessee: 30.48%
• Arkansas: 29.78%

Lowest:
• Utah: 17.51%
• California: 19.79%
• Hawaii: 20.57%
• Connecticut: 20.96%
• Massachusetts: 21.35%

Source: State Estimates of Substance Abuse from 2006-2007, National Surveys on Drug Use and Health

Rolling Stone Keith Richards Gives Up Alcohol

Telegraph UK

Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones guitarist and wild man of rock-and-roll, has given up alcohol, it has been reported.

The 66-year-old finally quit after getting strict orders from his doctor and watching fellow Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood's life unravel through alcoholism, it has been reported. Richards has apparently not touched a drop in four months.

Doctors have been telling Richards to stop drinking for years. He once famously claimed that he would never stop because he had outlived several doctors who advised him to give up.

But four years ago he suffered a brain haemorrhage after falling out of a palm tree during an alcohol-fuelled trip to Fiji with Wood. And he has been told that his hedonistic lifestyle is finally taking its toll.

A source close to the guitarist told The Sun: "He has always quite enjoyed the fact that he seemed to be able to carry on drinking as much as he liked with no real negative impact on his health.

"But he has watched Ronnie fall well and truly off the wagon last year and he doesn't like what he sees. Plus he has started to feel for the first time like it might do him some good to give up the booze for a while."

It was not known as of press time if Richards had enrolled in a treatment program such as Alcoholics Anonymous.