When Drinking Helps
Sorting out for whom a nip might prove therapeutic
By Janet Raloff
Downing a cocktail or other alcoholic drink at least three to four times a week appears to substantially cut a man’s risk of heart attack, Boston-area researchers reported in early January. Less than a week later, a U.S.-Canadian team of epidemiologists focusing on African Americans announced it had found no clear benefit to people drinking the same amount of alcohol per week. These reports joined other seemingly conflicting studies on the health impacts of alcohol that have emerged in the past few years.
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Some research found that regular, moderate drinking not only helps preserve mental clarity in both young and elderly people but also increases blood-sugar control in people with diabetes. Other studies linked low but regular consumption of alcohol with an increased risk of certain cancers and a stunting of children exposed to alcohol in the womb. These subtle detrimental effects, of course, add onto the potentially catastrophic acute events caused by alcohol-impaired judgment.