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January 15th, 2014
05:43 PM ET
Studies link alcohol to early death, memory lossNearly 80,000 people die as a result of drinking alcohol each year in North and Latin America, according to a new study published Tuesday in the Journal Addiction. Researchers looked at alcohol as the cause of death by examining death certificates, over a two-year period in 16 North and Latin American countries. Men accounted for 84% of alcohol-related deaths. Maristela Monteiro, study author and a senior advisor on alcohol and substance abuse at the Pan American Health Organization, says people are drinking too much and "it's killing people before they should be dying." "These deaths are all 100 percent preventable," she says. But how much is too much? According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heavy drinking is defined as consuming more than one drink per day for women and two drinks for men. One drink is considered 0.6 ounces of pure alcohol - equivalent to a 12-ounce beer, 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor, or a 5-ounce glass of wine. Researchers found liver disease was the most common cause of death, but a wide range of diseases including heart disease, stroke, epilepsy, falls, suicides, transport-related injuries, and interpersonal violence were also revealed. The highest death rates were in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, which are also three of the four countries with the highest level of alcohol consumption, according to the report. "In countries that have less resources, less health care, less services, in addition you have more risk of dying from an alcohol-related problem," says Monteiro. Monteiro says only about 30% of doctors in the United States ask patients about their drinking and have a conversation about it. She suggests people who think they may have a problem do a screening intervention at home. Another study, published Wednesday in the journal Neurology, looked at alcohol as it related to memory loss and found throwing back two and a half drinks per day speeds up memory loss in middle-aged men. Researchers followed 5,000 men and 2,000 women for 10 years and found those who had 2.5 drinks of wine, beer or hard liquor daily accelerated memory loss by up to 6 years. This was not seen in those who do not drink or who drink moderately. "The present study confirms that moderate alcohol consumption is probably not deleterious for the brain. However, heavy alcohol consumption, even in midlife, might have consequences on cognitive functioning at older ages," says study author Severine Sabia in an email. She is a research associate from the Whitehall II study at University College London. The study found alcohol consumption higher than 36 grams per day (which is equivalent to 2.5 12 oz. beers ,for example) in men was associated with accelerated decline in all cognitive functions, but in women there was only weak evidence that heavy drinking was associated with a faster decline. The study did not include a high number of female drinkers so researchers weren't able to find a statistical relevance in how much women drink in relation to cognitive decline. But Sabia says they did find for women "abstinence from alcohol was associated with faster decline in the global cognitive score and executive function." "What this shows in men, heavy drinking is not good, the role of moderate drinking in cognitive health remains an open-ended question," says Emory neurologist Dr. William Hu. "Most people want to hear drinking a glass of wine a day is good for your brain. This study is inconclusive on that," he adds. When asked about how alcohol effects brain function, Sabia says "heavy alcohol consumption is associated with higher risk of vascular disease which, in turn, may increase the risk of cognitive impairment. Furthermore, heavy alcohol consumption has detrimental short and long-term effects on the brain, including direct neurotoxic effect, pro-inflammatory effects, and indirect impact via cerebrovascular disease and vitamin deficiency."
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Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love. Recent Comments
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Drinking gives you UBER STRENGTH
Alcohol-attributable cancer deaths and years of potential life lost in the United States.
RESULTS: Alcohol consumption resulted in an estimated 18,200 to 21,300 cancer deaths, or 3.2% to 3.7% of all US cancer deaths. The majority of alcohol-attributable female cancer deaths were from breast cancer (56% to 66%), whereas upper airway and esophageal cancer deaths were more common among men (53% to 71%). Alcohol-attributable cancers resulted in 17.0 to 19.1 YPLL for each death. Daily consumption of up to 20 grams of alcohol (≤ 1.5 drinks) accounted for 26% to 35% of alcohol-attributable cancer deaths.
CONCLUSIONS:
Alcohol remains a major contributor to cancer mortality and YPLL. Higher consumption increases risk but there is no safe threshold for alcohol and cancer risk. Reducing alcohol consumption is an important and underemphasized cancer prevention strategy.
Are you kidding me that alcohol speeds memory loss? Wud I jus say? LOL
I'll drink to that!!!.....what did you say?.......what was I saying?
haha BEST COMMENT EVER
UGHHHH...IM BECOMMMING UUUUUBER!!! YEEAAARHGGGGG!!!!
http://www.businessinsider.com/abstaining-from-alcohol-significantly-shortens-life-2013-12
This is so LOL. No one has truly defined social drinking vs hard core drinking. In other words you say one drink a day for women then 2 drinks a day for men. Duhhh how about folks who do nothing during the week then binge on weekend.
So tired of medical folks scaring the public just like with smoking. Hey how about only smoke 1 every other day or only weekend, so does that count in the sad research? LOL
"No more than 2 drinks a day???" Ya kidding me? I drank 2 drinks just reading this story!
I always have a few rounds before breakfast, lunch, and dinner... I hate to eat on an empty stomach.
We all know this. I'm surprised the death rate isn't higher. And yet, all throughout the Americas, it is a legal drug, while cannabis, which can cure and ameliorate all sorts of diseases is not!
except in colorado and......
If you think weed cures diseases then you must be smoking some right now.
In CO, we got that 64
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkuNtkpvzsU&w=640&h=360]
Oh give me a break. If they did large scale studies of pot they'd find that there are negative consequences with that as well.
I love how the stoners always have to chime-in with this kind of nonsense. We get it. You wanna get high. Move to Colorado or something already.
Sativex is a pharmaceutical made from whole, natural marijuana plants in England. It does treat diseases and it has passed clinical trials and it is prescribed by doctors in Britain, Canada, France, and other countries. America don't want that cause our leaders be UBER CORRUPT.
Although some of us know this, there are many people who have been told that alcohol (especially wine) elongates your life. It obviously damages your liver, kidneys, memory retention, body coordination, teeth, etc. in the long run.
By the way, cannabis also damages your brain cells, messes up your hand/body coordination, impairs speech, is possibly carcinogenic and increases risk of head and neck, lung, and bladder cancer.
From Wiki: Cannabis use is not free of risk. Although cannabis alone is not believed to cause psychosis, it may be a contributory factor, particularly when combined with an existing susceptibility. Higher levels and frequencies of use, and exposure from an early age carry the highest risk of developing or exacerbating psychiatric disorders. It is likely that the two principal active ingredients of cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) have opposing effects, with CBD counteracting the adverse psychological effects of THC.
Ann, cannabis is a neuroprotective antioxidant. It most definitely does NOT kill brain cells. Also, the only thing in cannabis that gets you high is THC, which is also a prescription drug in the US. Do you think they would approve it if it killed brain cells?
Smoking pot isn't without risk, no matter what the tokens say.
Edit: "tokers." Damn auto-correct.
Man you must be baked.
Those who are saying cannabis is harmful are correct. But so are jelly donuts. So is being overweight or obese (which 2/3 of us are.) So is sleeping less than 6 hours a day, or not exercising, or playing in the NFL, etc.
The real question is how harmful is it, and at what level of harm do we make some thing illegal? I believe cannabis does not meet that test.
Arguing over whether it's harmful or not is useless. We do not routinely outlaw everything harmful.
A bullet to the head isn't good either. But hey, commonsense is not for everyone.
amelior earheart? I need a drink!
Except in Colorado and Uruguay.
By combusting cannabis you are creating risks due to the inhilation of smoke. THC itself is not KNOWN to cause problems except the visual and mental stimulation to those currently under it's effects. Cannabis consumption by way of edibles or vaporization (rather than combustion) are known to drastically reduce (for vaporization) or eliminate (in the case of edibles) the risks of cannabis consumption. I'm not sure if there are actual studies about health benefits, but i would be very suprised if it actually cured illnesses. That seems pretty uninformed.
What about those of us that only drink maybe once a week? And maybe four or five drinks at a time?
Like Willie Nelson sang: "There are more old drunks than there are old doctors, so I guess I'll have another round".
Well Billy, that is because there are less doctors to begin with, billy. Now drink your milk and goto bed. There's a good boy.
Apparently so does eating banana's. Drink up!
NEW STUDIES PROVE THAT NEW STUDY RESULTS CAN BE MANIPULATED
Gave up drinking 15 yrs, ago. I don't miss it, especially in bars. There was always one or two drinkers that were more obnoxious than a jerk with a battery powered disco ball in a dark movie theater.
Are non-drinkers always this boring?
This non drinker is giving me a headache....oh, maybe the headache is from not having a drink yet today.... got to get my drink on!
You are boring me. I'll have to get a drink before I read another comment from you.
It's not true.
I'm not surprised. If not for the tipsy feeling alcohol gives you, few people would care.Have you ever tasted hard liquor straight out of the bottle and wondered what it can do to delicate human tissue? It's like drinking gasoline. Animals won't drink it. That should tell you something.
I know an old dog that loves it.
Animals DO drink it. look up drunk deer on youtube. They eat fermented berries until they can no longer walk. Other animals also imbibe. I'm not saying its safe but when there are 1000 ways to die, each and every day you wake up, having some alcohol to take the edge off after a long day is a nice crutch,
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo-kiV8GoNw&w=640&h=360]
What makes you think that people are talking about hard liquor? There's great pleasure in a glass of excellent wine with a meal.
You might be buying cheap stuff, my friend.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39-natKpnkA&w=640&h=360]
Oh, great clip! I love this movie! Have it on DVD.
I don't get how alcohol is still a billion dollar instrury when all these facts has come out about how bad its is for you.
One drink per day for women and two for men is considered heavy drinking? What would they consider moderate drinking? My grandfather on my mother's side had a shot everyday after dinner and that was after a glass of wine with dinner and lived to 95 'nough said.
My grandmother lived to be 103 and drank and ate beef every day. Of course she was never fat. It's all genetic. If your genes can't handle it, don't do it.
It may not just be genetics but I'm sure it plays a big role for some people. If you stick to a diet of raw foods like meat, vegetables and fruit and skip grains you can be very healthy.
There's no conclusive evidence that grains are harmful.
Tack-on the number of deaths caused by drunk drivers + the figures skyrocket! Sad that the laws still favor the drunks!?
These studies never tell how long you have to keep up heavy drinking to have any impact on your health. Two drinks per day, but for how long? A couple years?
The liver is evil, it must be punished.
So it would be better to smoke pot than drink to escape reality?
Wait...what? It's not good for you? But it seems so healthy.
You don't say...
Too bad all those studies about wine being so goooood for you. Who just drinks a single glass of sour grapes anyway?
I've cut out all alcohol permanently after some surgery. And feel better for it.
Just quit.
I don't drink, but my wife has two or three glasses of wine a month. However, when we go to dinner parties I watch people who drink more than others and the next time I see them at a party I count their drinks. The worst ones are have 6 or more drinks in three hours and they are daily drinkers but only perceive themselves as social drinker. Most American problem drinkers don't think they have a problem with alcohol because they are in the 20% that are problem drinkers and not alcoholics. Almost anyone can quit drinking they need to know they have a problem before they get behind the wheel and kill somebody.
You're a pretty horrible dinner party guest if you spend the evening counting other people's drinks. Great to see how much wisdom you have about their lives outside of the dinner party too.
A 2013 NIH study concluded that almost 20,000 cancer deaths in the US are alcohol related. Alcoholic beverages are Group 1 Human Carcinogens. Alcohol is a major cause of mouth and throat cancer.
Cite the study that is your source for this statement.
Why do we have alcohol dehydrogenase if not to drink alcohol? Riddle me this NIH man...
In other breaking news, polar bears (when hungry) will eat you, it's cold in Antarctica and Dave Chapelle isn't very funny.
Is there anyone on this planet that needed a "study" to figure this out?
No kidding? Wow! You didn't need a study to tell you that!
This is why it's imperative that we outlaw pot!
I hope no one spent money on researching the obvious.
I saw an obituary for an old prospector in an Alaska newspaper. It said he drank himself to death all his life. By the way, he was 98 when he died.
That's nice. I'll have another.
My uncle drinks like crazy and he is 80 years old. I don't know how that happened. I do agree however pot is much better than alcohol. Say no to alcohol spread the word.
Recent studies have also shown that alcohol does not kill brain cells.
I'll have another drink while the experts are sorting this out.
OH NO!!! Nanny Bloomberg is going to try and ban alcohol too!! Or I'm sorry, he won't actually ban it, just tax the heck out of it and only let you drink it out of 3oz cups.
duh
I am astonished at all of the people lining up to buy marijuana in Colorado. And I'm more astonished to think people really cannot understand the dangers of marijuana. It "fried" many people in the late '60's and '70's, when LSD, and other drugs hit the scene at Woodstock. It is unfortunate that Americans are jumping on the "marijuana" wagon. It is no different than becoming dependent on alcohol. A drug is a drug, and alcohol is alcohol. Both will ruin your life, your relationships, your health, and your sanity.
I'm healthy, wealthy, and drink daily. Also happily married for 20 years to a beautiful, successful woman. As opposed to preaching absolutes like how alcohol will "ruin" our lives, try putting things into perspective and discussing moderation, balance, and pushing ourselves to do better. Drinking and/or smoking don't run counter to a great life.
Alcohol still causes more births than deaths.
Touche.
"These deaths are all 100 percent preventable," she says.
Everyone dies. Death is inevitable. Some enjoy life more than others. Some are never happy. The obsession with immortality by avoiding all things that might harm you doesn't make you live forever. It just makes you paranoid that everything will kill you.
Did these studies include people who were killed by drunk drivers? That is certainly an alcohol caused death.
Well, buy the ticket, take the ride. I have known people who drank like crazy and lived more than 90 energetic years. My father died before he was 70 from drinking related illnesses. You just never know and neither do the people who wrote that article or did those studies.
I am going to have another beer now but not drive a vehicle.
Don't tell the Irish!
Moderate or slightly heavy drinking pales in comparison to a junk food/ fast food diet. My great grandfather was a heavy drinker, borderline alcoholic. If he had enough liquor, he would binge until it was gone. He lived to be 96. If you go back to the times in which he lived, there were virtually no processed foods, and his diet was very simple. I'm not suggesting that anyone binge, or drink their marriage and/or friendships away. But it is worth noting that out of all the carcinogens we are exposed to on a daily basis in modern society, alcohol is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.
Adam, you hit the Nail on the head buddy...!
My great grand-pappy lived to the ripe old age of 156, he drank 4 gallons of moonshine, smoked two dozen cigars, and ate only pork rinds dipped in gravy. I tell ya...
By the way, alcohol is a known neurotoxin.
So instead of living until 90, wearing diapers, seeing leprechauns running around the table, and not being able to remember one's name, a person will die happily sloshed younger in a gentlemen's club?
Studies, shmudies....This stuff is just plain ridiculous. I'm almost certain this study was conducted by the same diluted group (or their understudies) who said Marijuana was a gateway drug. I have zero faith in the science or social studies which underpin this endeavor. Where was I going with this? Hold on, where's my beer? Anyway, as I was saying, wait...What was I saying? Oh yeah! I believe much of what we read is propaganda. Case in point, in the fifties children were shown short films of family life depicting the roles of men and women in the typical household. "Watch kids, Johnny is in the garage with his father learning how to fix things and maintain the house." Also, "See Susan in the kitchen with her mother learning how to cook and clean". You see where I'm going with this....Make mine a double tender!
"diluted group"? Ahahahaha! Your screen name is NOT apt.
But I thought it was marijuana that was supposed to destroy your memory, imagine that...
Sometimes I wonder if religion causes dementia. All of the Alzheimer's patients I have seen are hard core church ladies.
This is CNN right? Not Yahoo? Surprised at the incorrect use of effect/affect in last paragraph. "When asked about how alcohol effects brain function.." Not trying to nit pick but this mistake just always bugs me.
One drink a day is "heavy drinking"? I find this bizarre.
I suspect the Christian right is funding this study to try to bring back prohibition. All in an effort to keep people able to work until they are like 90 years old.
I say, who cares? A lot of people will not even bear to live until old age if they do not drink. Why do you think alcohol consumption is big in some of these poor countries that were affected by civil wars and drug violence? Because when life sucks, you drink a couple beers just to keep going.
And after you drank those 2 or 3 beers, you realize that you might not be able to retire until you are 80, so you drink one more to try to speed up the process.
As a problem drinker, this study scared the Hell out of me! I want to quit just can't seem to cope with my problems with uncertainties in an uncertain world that I find myself unvoluntarily placed into at the moment of this writing. I can't find a proper doctor to reperscribe my anxiety and depression medicine and worry over the side-affects and dealing with serious mental trama on a almost daily basis e.g. sisters death and schizo brother and coping with my disability. I can't seem to ever get ahead except for drinking sad sad sad.....
And there are many, many more that die each year in the U.S. with the cause of death being euphemistically labelled as esophagal cancer, renal failure, etc. Alcohol is the underlying cause. Even social drinkers, myself included, seldom have just one glass of wine (which I might add is often more than 5 ozs.) I also find it amusing how much wine is consumed as tasting whereas if you sipped on that much hard liquor it would be a bar crawl.
I don't drink, I just shoot heroin. I'm gonna live forever!
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PHOTO SHOP VERSION INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
SEND AN IMAGE FROM A CELL TO YOUR HOME COMPUTER.
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WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF transmit DATA AREAS OF OPTICAL NERVE RETINAS O PROCESSING CENTERS IN HIPOTALAMO?.
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