For some people, alcohol is more than just a hobby, it is a problem. Alcohol abuse is an increasingly common affliction in the United States, especially in older adults. About 2.8 million older adults in the United States suffer from alcoholism and the number is projected to reach 5.7 million by 2020 (Ellin 1) We should clearly do our best to reduce these numbers. Advertising the new-found benefit of drinking may accomplish quite the opposite. Proponents of the aforementioned study who propose moderate drinking for the possible health benefits may be attempting to promote health but might be simply providing an excuse for potential alcohol abusers.
Stephen Arndt, the director of the Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation, claims that people are good at twisting things around to suit their interests. Alcohol abusers will downplay their own issues, claiming that their drinking is not a problem. (Ellin 2) With this new revelation about moderate alcohol use reducing the risk of diseases such as Alzheimer's, many potential alcohol abusers could use it to justify their drinking. So then, is it worth it to risk increasing numbers of alcoholism in order to reduce the risk of diseases such as Alzheimer's? This is dependent on how the information is presented. The goal should be to reduce the risk of the information being miscontrued by alcohol abusers. If it can be presented with a clear description of how many drinks are suggested for obtaining the benefits without transferring into alcohol abuse, then maybe it would be worth the risk.
Sources:
1. Collins, Michael A., Edward J. Neafsey, Kewei Wang, Nicholas J. Achille, Robert M. Mitchell, and Sreevidya Sivaswamy. "Moderate Ethanol Preconditioning of Rat Brain Cultures Engenders Neuroprotection Against Dementia-Inducing Neuroinflammatory Proteins: Possible Signaling Mechanisms." Molecular Neurobiology Mol Neurobiol 41.2-3 (2010): 420-25. Web.
2.Ellin, Abby. "More Older Adults Are Struggling With Substance Abuse." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Oct. 2014. Web.
I recently read an article about this same topic written by the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation which I think did a good job of combating the concern of alcoholism by stating exactly what “moderate alcohol consumption” amounts to. This article says it's roughly 1 serving for women and 2 servings for men with 1 serving equaling 15 grams of alcohol. The article also goes on to explain how chronic alcohol abuse can actually have the opposite effect and increase the chances of Alzheimer's or other types of dementia. It's an interesting article, here's the link if you're interested. http://www.alzdiscovery.org/cognitive-vitality/report/low-to-moderate-alcohol-consumption
ReplyDeleteIn the same way I use shredded lettuce in my burrito to justify Chipotle, the same is could be done with health benefits and drinking. The number of Americans that abuse alcohol is alarming but what is even more alarming is the fact that the scientific community has to worry about the effects of their findings and the potential self-degradation of the adult population. Personally, I don’t think that this finding will change those statistics much. First, health benefits may be a secondary influence to drink alcohol but the core motivator usually lies somewhere else. Second, ambiguous measurements tagged with research can cause the viewer to apply their own subjectivity. As stated in the original post, the goal needs to be to reduce misconstrued information. For example, my “moderate” and my mother’s “moderate” can be very different measures. While she is reaping the health benefits of her alcohol consumption, I may be damaging my liver. If ambiguity and subjectivity were removed, it would be much harder to justify an unhealthy lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI find it really interesting how alcohol abuse can contribute to cognitive and memory impairments as well as the development of progressive brain disorders related to Alzheimer's, but at the same time it can lower the risk of cognitive decline when used properly or moderately. However, I wonder if what lowers the risk of Alzheimer's is exclusively moderate alcohol consumption or other factors related to it contribute as well. On the other hand, discovering ways to prevent or lower the risk of Alzheimer's is important at many levels of society. Nevertheless, I personally think that scientific illiteracy is the barrier that remains between the effectiveness of scientific discoveries and society's benefit from it. Although the moderate amount of alcohol that should be consumed in order to benefit from it is out for the public, the unwise use of this information can backfire and contribute to other health issues or the justification of addictions. Therefore, I think the way in which people interpret and use the information plays an essential role in the benefits that this discovery can potentially bring to us.
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