Drinking alcohol every day cuts risk of heart disease in men by more than third

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8367141.stm

by cwan • 17 years ago

14 10 17 years ago

news.bbc.co.uk

this type of study should be headlined thusly: strong correlation found between alcohol consumption and decreased risk of heart disease. but I'm not naive enough to not understand why science has been sensationalized with inaccurate headlines for centuries.

tungstenfurnace• 17 years ago

Correlation -- yes! Though it would be better to say "inverse correlation found between alcohol and CHD".

Many people don't get that this observation is entirely consistent with alcohol's increasing the risk of CHD.

An analogy is that car accidents correlate strongly with use of the brake pedal. Yet we know brake pedals reduce the risk of car accidents. If asked we can explain why this is so.

>The exact mechanisms are as yet unclear

If they were doing proper, hard science they would be conjecturing theories about such mechanisms and then testing those theories.

ulf• 17 years ago

getting hit by a car also reduces risk of heart or any other major diseases by a huge fraction

brtzsnr• 17 years ago

However, it probably increases risks of liver disease by more than a third.

dpapathanasiou• 17 years ago

It's also important to note:

"The study was conducted in Spain, a country with relatively high rates of alcohol consumption and low rates of coronary heart disease."

UncleOxidant• 17 years ago

There are likely other contributors to this than just alcohol. The lifestyle in Spain is probably a lot more laid back. And they have a lot more social interaction.

mhb• 17 years ago

So it's good that they had the control group in Spain, too.

robotrout• 17 years ago

Two great books, both by an engineer out of the UK.

    The Epidemiologists: Have They Got Scares for You!
    Sorry, Wrong Number!: The Abuse of Measurement

The shenanigans that go on with the data, just to get an interesting result ... and thus a published paper, are disturbingly like the GW fiasco. These books definitely make you read these "Eating X helps with disease Y" kinds of headlines with a jaded eye.

That said, I think in this instance, the fact that alcohol thins the blood, (which many drugs prescribed to people at risk of heart disease also do) lends credence that there is causation here.

TNO• 17 years ago

  A) The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart
     attacks than the British or Americans. 
  B) On the other hand, the French eat a lot of fat and also
     suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or 
     Americans. 
  C) The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer
     heart attacks than the British or Americans. 
  D) The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine, and
     also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or 
     Americans 
  E) Conclusion: Eat & drink what you like. It's speaking 
     English that kills you. - Author Unknown

donw• 17 years ago

I do love that joke. But it's not un-worthwhile to note that the Japanese drink like they're training for the Drunken Olympics.

Drinking alcohol every day cuts risk of heart disease in men by more than third

Related Stories