[ExI] Drinking

[Kelly Anderson]

On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 1:59 AM, Kryonica <kryonica at gmail.com> wrote:
> This morning on BBC news "too much drinking" is once more all the rage:
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16869618
>
> Does anyone know how well founded scientifically is all this talk about for instance increased risk of mouth cancer if one glass of wine regularly turns into two or three?  I get suspicious with these general statements (after being repeatedly reminded by Anders that they have to be taken with a pinch of salt and that one must always have a look at the real scientific article behind them), and all the more so because I like my red wine and have read elsewhere (on the BBC!) that it is good for me :-/  The BBC article is full of very sweeping statements indeed that would require some expert reading to sort the wheat from the chaff.
>

I understand that even a little alcohol does increase the incidence of
breast cancer, but I can't point to the specific research. However, it
was reinforced recently by my girl friend's doctor (while getting a
mammogram).

There is a lot of anti-alcohol sentiment where I live (Utah), so it is
difficult to separate out what is real and what is not.

Drinking while pregnant, even in relatively small amounts does
increase the chances of FAS for the fetus. That's not a fun one.

I don't think anyone would argue for large amounts of alcohol. That
clearly does liver damage and lots of other bad stuff. Had a friend of
a friend die last week from that stuff.

There are of course the reports that the antioxidants in red wine
helping the French. The question is whether you could get antioxidants
some other way... and I don't think we know a lot about the health
hazards of just a little alcohol. There are some indications that
longevity is better in people who never use any alcohol, but since the
people in those studies also didn't typically smoke, it's hard to draw
a very strong conclusion.

I normally don't drink, though I've had a few in the last year. Tried
red wine once. Did not like it. Probably won't try it again.

-Kelly