Why we’re told alcohol is more
dangerous than it really is
A glass or two of alcohol can help us live longer when we reach the
age of 65—but it can take years off the lives of younger drinkers, say
researchers, who think this explains the contradictory health advice
we’ve been getting about drinking.
More than a third of all deaths from alcoholism happen to people
between 20 and 49 years old—and so when medical researchers
recruit older people for their studies, the ‘problem drinkers’ may
already have died.
As a result, modest drinking becomes a health benefit in people over
65, and accounts for half the lives that are ‘saved’ through drinking,
such as from improved heart health. Less than 15 percent of lives lost
through excessive alcohol drinking occur in this age group.
So, despite the dire warnings from our health guardians that even
one sip of alcohol can send us to an early grave, modest drinking
comes with a “relatively low risk,” say researchers from the Boston
Medical Center, especially as we get older.
J Stud Alcohol Drugs, 2019; 80: 63–
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