Ed Note: : “The attenuation of mortality observed for wine preference and drinking only during meals requires further investigation, as it may mostly reflect the effect of healthier lifestyles, slower alcohol absorption, or nonalcoholic components of beverages.” So wine in this study, especially with meals, appears to be exempt from causing excess mortality—whew!
Virtually any amount increased the risk for cancer, and there were no heart benefits, the researchers reported.
By Roni Caryn Rabin in the NYT
Even light drinking was associated with an increase in cancer deaths among older adults in Britain, researchers reported on Monday in a large study. But the risk was accentuated primarily in those who had existing health problems or who lived in low-income areas.
The study, which tracked 135,103 adults aged 60 and older for 12 years, also punctures the long-held belief that light or moderate alcohol consumption is good for the heart.
The researchers found no reduction in heart disease deaths among light or moderate drinkers, regardless of this health or socioeconomic status, when compared with occasional drinkers.
The study defined light drinking as a mean alcohol intake of up to 20 grams a day for men and up to 10 grams daily for women. (In the United States, a standard drink is 14 grams of alcohol.)
“We did not find evidence of a beneficial association between low drinking and mortality,” said Dr. Rosario Ortolá, an assistant professor of preventive medicine and public health at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the lead author of the paper, which was published in JAMA Network Open.
On the other hand, she added, alcohol probably raises the risk of cancer “from the first drop.”
The findings add to a mounting body of evidence that is shifting the paradigm in alcohol research. Scientists are turning to new methodologies to analyze the risks and benefits of alcohol consumption in an attempt to correct what some believe were serious flaws in earlier research, which appeared to show that there were benefits to drinking.
Much of this new research compares rates of heart disease and death in moderate and occasional drinkers, instead of abstainers. Abstainers as a group include many individuals who stopped drinking because they were already seriously ill, and relying on this group for comparisons may have falsely made light drinkers look healthier.
None of us want to be a party-pooper, just as most of us avoid, or minimize, harmful substances. This new study will have many readers asking: With all the evidence, what part do CCRC’s have in selling alcohol onsite?
[At my “wellness visit” with my primary care doctor last week, I shared when asked that I drink only one ounce of wine a day. (No 🙂 I don’t have any other alcohol either, unless cooked in dinner dishes.) She then recommended NO alcoholic drinks, despite my healthy condition.]
Sales of alcohol to folks over 60 are right up there with selling chocolate and chocolatey desserts. Consumer Reports has amplified the earlier research (see “As You Sow” testing results) and published its own testing results on the levels of lead and cadmium in chocolate products. CR and As You Sow conclude: How much lead and cadmium is safe for consumers? None.
What part do we play in this misery?
Sylvia
Thanks, Jim, for publishing both the NYT article and my comment. It seemed likely you would not want to be seen as quashing a facility’s sales.
But what’s a doctor to do? After all, we can’t buy tobacco products at these same residences, if we ever could, because tobacco hurts the user. Secondhand and thirdhand tobacco hurt all of us.
Alcohol consumption hurts us indirectly through DUI accidents, higher insurance rates, violence, incarceration expenses, etc. Not to mention the duty bartenders have to confront customers who have met some (arbitrary?) limit.
How we might diplomatically “confront” the purveyors of alcohol at CCRC’s:
Ask that drinking NOT be encouraged at facilities. Eliminate references to alcoholic drinks and their availability in promotional materials – both those directed to prospective and present residents. Do not emphasize the bar where “you can sit and enjoy a martini,” as one CCRC cheers.
Hold discussion forums to consider the issues around alcohol consumed on the premises. (Buyer beware? See above.)
Share the research on the effects of alcohol consumption – the studies’ results and researchers’ interpretations – with all residents and their families/representatives.
Acknowledge the controversial nature of any changes being sought. Remind folks their backpockets are perhaps large enough to carry a flask or two.
Cheers!