Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers, Study Finds

[SuperBowser]

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599201433200;_ylt=Al0PpnCFG4Zuc01fUT4VtoRv24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTM1dHBvZTVlBGFzc2V0A3RpbWUvMjAxMDA4MzAvMDg1OTkyMDE0MzMyMDAEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDaGVhdnlkcmlua2Vy

Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers, Study Finds

One of the most contentious issues in the vast literature about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don't drink actually tend to die sooner than those who do.

The standard Alcoholics Anonymous explanation for this finding is that many of those who show up as abstainers in such research are actually former hard-core drunks who had already incurred health problems associated with drinking.

But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that - for reasons that aren't entirely clear - abstaining from alcohol does actually tend to increase one's risk of dying even when you exclude former drinkers. The most shocking part? Abstainers' mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers. (See pictures of booze under a microscope.)

Moderate drinking, which is defined as one to three drinks per day, is associated with the lowest mortality rates in alcohol studies. Moderate alcohol use (especially when the beverage of choice is red wine) is thought to improve heart health, circulation and sociability, which can be important because people who are isolated don't have as many family members and friends who can notice and help treat health problems.

But why would abstaining from alcohol lead to a shorter life? It's true that those who abstain from alcohol tend to be from lower socioeconomic classes, since drinking can be expensive. And people of lower socioeconomic status have more life stressors - job and child-care worries that might not only keep them from the bottle but also cause stress-related illnesses over long periods. (They also don't get the stress-reducing benefits of a drink or two after work.)

But 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.

The sample of those who were studied included individuals between ages 55 and 65 who had had any kind of outpatient care in the previous three years. The 1,824 participants were followed for 20 years. One drawback of the sample: a disproportionate number, 63%, were men. Just over 69% of the never-drinkers died during the 20 years, 60% of the heavy drinkers died and only 41% of moderate drinkers died.

These are remarkable statistics. Even though heavy drinking is associated with higher risk for cirrhosis and several types of cancer (particularly cancers in the mouth and esophagus), heavy drinkers are less likely to die than people who have never drunk. One important reason is that alcohol lubricates so many social interactions, and social interactions are vital for maintaining mental and physical health. As I pointed out last year, nondrinkers show greater signs of depression than those who allow themselves to join the party.

The authors of the new paper are careful to note that even if drinking is associated with longer life, it can be dangerous: it can impair your memory severely and it can lead to nonlethal falls and other mishaps (like, say, cheating on your spouse in a drunken haze) that can screw up your life. There's also the dependency issue: if you become addicted to alcohol, you may spend a long time trying to get off the bottle.

That said, the new study provides the strongest evidence yet that moderate drinking is not only fun but good for you. So make mine a double.

 

[Mr.Freeman]

Who knew? I certainly didn't.

Good read.

 

[Luigitoilet]

This is what I tell my bosses at work when they catch me drinking on the clock!

 

[Red the Ghost]

I've known for a long time that red wine is good for the heart, but I'd really like to see how they managed to control all these variables.

 

[Fuelbi]

Hmmm.... so I can't moderately drink and live as long as these guys?

 

[SuperBowser]

Moderate/light drinkers live the longest in this study and consistently in others.

Pretty funny to imagine people binging to increase life expectancy though

 

[1048576]

There's almost guaranteed to be lurking variables here.

Perhaps partying's health benefits outweigh binging's health detriments.

 

[Budget Player Cadet_]

Hooray for vodka

amirite?

 

[GreenKirby]

So I guess your liver isn't really all that important. :O

 

[Neverbound]

Sweet, this makes me just feel so :3

 

[Deleted member]

Not a fan of this news report.

Taking in too much alcohol can result in destorying families because a person is too addicted to alcohol. In that case, wouldn't it shorten their lifespan?

That's someone they forgot to consider while doing this.

 

[Luigitoilet]

Not a fan of this news report.

Taking in too much alcohol can result in destorying families because a person is too addicted to alcohol. In that case, wouldn't it shorten their lifespan?

That's someone they forgot to consider while doing this.

"Destroying families" is such a vague blanket term that I'm not even sure what you mean. In any case, how would family problems effect someone's lifespan?

 

[Deleted member]

"Destroying families" is such a vague blanket term that I'm not even sure what you mean. In any case, how would family problems effect someone's lifespan?

By destroying famiilies, I mean that it ruins their lives for there mother and/or father/guardian to become heavy drinker and they neglect there family.

As the news report favors drinkers living longer over non-drinkers with one of it's core arguments being that drinkers tend to be more social then non-drinkers, people who drink all the time tend to have problems interacting with families and friends properly and thus are not that social to begin with. If the news report argues that social life is the primarily reason why drinkers tend to live longer then non-drinkres, heavy drinkers have a problem with social life and thus would live shorter lives. Plus I think drinkers living longer then non-drinkers is baloney as alcohol is unhealthy for you.

Let's say that Person A is a non-drinker, but not social and that Person B is a heavy drinker, but not social as well. Given that alcohol is bad for your body, it makes sense that Person A is more likely to live longer then Person B. I would argue the same scenario if they were both social.

 

[Skler]

This is my new excuse for what happened at Pound 4.

I was busy increasing my life expectancy.

 

[Pikaville]

At least now I know.

Being Irish I should be immortal now right?

 

[GoldShadow]

Let's say that Person A is a non-drinker, but not social and that Person B is a heavy drinker, but not social as well. Given that alcohol is bad for your body, it makes sense that Person A is more likely to live longer then Person B. I would argue the same scenario if they were both social.

First of all, you brought up alcoholics (ie, alcohol abusers). This has nothing to do with moderate use. Consider fat. People who consume a healthy amount of fat in their diet are much better off than people who underconsume fat. Similarly, there are people who consume too much fat (akin to the "alcohol abusers" you brought up), and that is bad for you too.

Also, I don't know how you came to this conclusion: "Given that alcohol is bad for your body, it makes sense that Person A is more likely to live longer then Person B." Do you really think that every exposure to anything bad in a person's lifetime will shorten their lifespan? What even makes you say alcohol is "bad for your body?" It makes the liver work to detoxify it, but that the liver's job. It's not like that shortens your lifespan. Abusing alcohol can damage your liver, but regular consumption won't have such an effect.

In fact, as this study has shown, regular consumption helps. What makes you think the researchers didn't consider all the things you've mentioned? Did you even read the article? Link here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01286.x/pdf

They took into account all the stuff you mentioned. A lot more than that, in fact. I skimmed through it myself and their study design, methods and conclusions all seem sound to me.

Also,

Being Irish I should be immortal now right?

lol

 

[freeman123]

Then I guess I'll be dying young, because I've never drank in my life and I don't plan on it.

 

[jugfingers]

Egyptian slaves basically lived off of barley bread and barley beer.

 

[Pikaville]

So that's how they survived so long in the desert......

 

[Laem]

some1 should find health benefits for heavy smoking
i swear i would troll the entire paranoid world with those statistics

 

[Jim Morrison]

Not drinking EVER is silly.

If it's because you can't because of your religion, sucks to be you.

 

[hemlock]

Then I guess I'll be dying young, because I've never drank in my life and I don't plan on it.

Nice! me too.

 

[Pikaville]

Being drunk or even tipsy is lots of fun.

You should at least try it once IMO.

 

[Luigitoilet]

Yeah. I'm not a lush or anything but it really bugs me when people adamantly refuse to try something like this. Alcohol has been a huge part of society for thousands of years for a reason. Sure, there's always the chance of going overboard or becoming an addict, but that's not gonna happen after one beer or one drink.

 

[TigerWoods]

Yeah. I'm not a lush or anything but it really bugs me when people adamantly refuse to try something like this. Alcohol has been a huge part of society for thousands of years for a reason. Sure, there's always the chance of going overboard or becoming an addict, but that's not gonna happen after one beer or one drink.

It gets annoying trying to plan social gatherings when you have a lot of straight-edge friends. . .

> . >

 

[Pikaville]

I can understand totally people not drinking because of a bad experience with it or alcoholic parents etc.

Although that being said my dad was pretty abusive sometimes when I was younger, that all culminated into some serious ****.

He gave up though and hasn't touched a drink in nearly 6 years now.

It hasn't put me off though, I know how to control myself.

 

[Trent Reznor]

Alcoholism helped me write two of the greatest albums known to man. I had to come clean, but I know when to give thanks.

 

[victra♥]

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