Alcohol Balancing Risks
Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits
Introduction
Throughout the 10,000 or so years that humans have been drinking fermented beverages, they’ve also been arguing about their merits and demerits. The debate still simmers today, with a lively back-and-forth over whether alcohol is good for you or bad for you.
It’s safe to say that alcohol is both a tonic and a poison. The difference lies mostly in the dose. Moderate drinking seems to be good for the heart and circulatory system, and probably protects against type 2 diabetes and gallstones. Heavy drinking is a major cause of preventable death in most countries. In the U.S., alcohol is implicated in about half of fatal traffic accidents. (1) Heavy drinking can damage the liver and heart, …show more content…
Many of these trials have been conducted for weeks, and in a few cases months, to look at changes in the blood, but a long-term trial to test experimentally the effects of alcohol on cardiovascular disease over many years will probably never be done. Nevertheless, the connection between moderate drinking and cardiovascular disease almost certainly represents a cause-and-effect …show more content…
Alcohol can disrupt sleep. Its ability to cloud judgment is legendary. Alcohol interacts in potentially dangerous ways with a variety of medications, including acetaminophen, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, painkillers, and sedatives. It is also addictive, especially for people with a family history of alcoholism.
Alcohol Increases Risk of Developing Breast Cancer
There is convincing evidence that alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer. (23, 24) In a combined analysis of six large prospective studies involving more than 320,000 women, researchers found that having two or more drinks a day increased the chances of developing breast cancer as much as 41 percent. (23)
This doesn’t mean that 40 percent or so of women who have two drinks a day will get breast cancer. Instead, it is the difference between about 12.7 of every 100 women developing breast cancer during their lifetime—the current average risk in the US—and 17 to 18 of every 100 women developing the disease. This modest increase would translate to significantly more women with breast cancer each year.
Adequate daily intake of folate, at least 600 micrograms a day, appears to mitigate this increased risk. (25,26) (Read more about folate and alcohol.)
Genes Play a
Introduction
Throughout the 10,000 or so years that humans have been drinking fermented beverages, they’ve also been arguing about their merits and demerits. The debate still simmers today, with a lively back-and-forth over whether alcohol is good for you or bad for you.
It’s safe to say that alcohol is both a tonic and a poison. The difference lies mostly in the dose. Moderate drinking seems to be good for the heart and circulatory system, and probably protects against type 2 diabetes and gallstones. Heavy drinking is a major cause of preventable death in most countries. In the U.S., alcohol is implicated in about half of fatal traffic accidents. (1) Heavy drinking can damage the liver and heart, …show more content…
Many of these trials have been conducted for weeks, and in a few cases months, to look at changes in the blood, but a long-term trial to test experimentally the effects of alcohol on cardiovascular disease over many years will probably never be done. Nevertheless, the connection between moderate drinking and cardiovascular disease almost certainly represents a cause-and-effect …show more content…
Alcohol can disrupt sleep. Its ability to cloud judgment is legendary. Alcohol interacts in potentially dangerous ways with a variety of medications, including acetaminophen, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, painkillers, and sedatives. It is also addictive, especially for people with a family history of alcoholism.
Alcohol Increases Risk of Developing Breast Cancer
There is convincing evidence that alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer. (23, 24) In a combined analysis of six large prospective studies involving more than 320,000 women, researchers found that having two or more drinks a day increased the chances of developing breast cancer as much as 41 percent. (23)
This doesn’t mean that 40 percent or so of women who have two drinks a day will get breast cancer. Instead, it is the difference between about 12.7 of every 100 women developing breast cancer during their lifetime—the current average risk in the US—and 17 to 18 of every 100 women developing the disease. This modest increase would translate to significantly more women with breast cancer each year.
Adequate daily intake of folate, at least 600 micrograms a day, appears to mitigate this increased risk. (25,26) (Read more about folate and alcohol.)
Genes Play a