Afternoon alcohol roundup

Things to ponder before heading to the staff club, where Epic Pale Ale is now on tap...

• Drinking alcohol every day cuts the risk of heart disease in men by more than a third, a major study suggests. Nice result, seems to control for the "sick abstainers" problem in comparing moderate drinkers with non-drinkers.

  For those drinking little - less than a shot of vodka a day for instance - the risk was reduced by 35%. And for those who drank anything from three shots to more than 11 shots each day, the risk worked out an average of 50% less.
  The same benefits were not seen in women, who suffer fewer heart problems than men to start with. Researchers speculated this difference could be down to the fact that women process alcohol differently, and that female hormones protect against the disease in younger age groups.
  The type of alcohol drunk did not seem to make a difference, but protection was greater for those drinking moderate to high amounts of varied drinks.

• The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has revised its thinking on alcoholism:

  70% of those [with an alcohol disorder] quit drinking or cut back to safe consumption patterns without treatment after four years or less. Only 1% of those surveyed fit the stereotypical image of someone with severe, recurring alcohol addiction who has hit the skids."

  Entirely consistent with the research showing that everyone, especially youths, overestimates the risks of becoming an alcoholic.


• On the downside, the FDA threatens to ban cocktails mixing alcohol with energy drinks. So the kiddies might have to resort to buying separately their Red Bull and vodka and mixing it themselves rather than buying it pre-mixed.