X-Message-Number: 26606
From: Kennita Watson <>
Subject: To Drink or Not to Drink - Discover magazine
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 12:19:06 -0700

Grape juice, anyone?

Cheers,
Kennita

To Drink or Not to Drink
By Kathy A. Svitil
DISCOVER Vol. 26 No. 08 | August 2005 | Biology & Medicine

It s hard enough knowing what to eat low carb? low fat? high 
protein? that you d think you could find a little clarity in alcohol. 
Is it healthy or harmful? Will it help you live longer? Is it good for 
your heart or your mind? To find out, we surveyed a collection of 
recent research reports. The results are muddled.

First, the good news: Moderate drinking may stave off mental decline in 
old age. A group of Harvard epidemiologists analyzed data from the 
121,700-participant, three-decade-long Nurses  Health Study and found 
that middle-aged women who drink a glass of wine a day (or its 
equivalent) are 20 percent less likely than nondrinkers to suffer from 
age-related memory impairment and other cognitive problems later in 
life. Meanwhile, Japanese scientists studying mice have found that 
certain unidentified compounds in lager and stout beer prevent DNA 
damage from heterocyclic amines, a class of cancer-causing chemicals 
found in cooked meats and fish.

But don t start pounding back the pints just yet. The mice in the 
Japanese study were given a nonalcoholic brew, so it wasn t alcohol 
that blocked the amines. Researchers at the University of Mississippi 
recently found that ethanol the alcohol in alcoholic drinks speeds 
tumor growth by stimulating blood vessel formation. And when Italian 
epidemiologists examined 156 studies of alcohol and cancer, they found 
that drinking as little as 25 grams of alcohol a day two bottles of 
beer increases the risk of cancers of the upper digestive tract, 
larynx, intestines, liver, and breast.

There is strong new evidence that the negative effects of alcohol 
outweigh the benefits. Alcohol-related illnesses add up to a huge 
worldwide health problem, says an international team of researchers 
reporting in the British medical journal The Lancet. Four percent of 
the  global burden of disease,  they say, can be blamed on 
alcohol about as much death and disability as is caused by tobacco.

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26606