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Comment by ukulele | Hacker News Reader

*Alcohol abuse is largest risk factor

> Most reviews point to a possible beneficial effect of light-to-moderate drinking on cognitive health... By contrast, heavy drinking seems detrimentally related to dementia risk, whatever the dementia type.

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> Most reviews point to a possible beneficial effect of light-to-moderate drinking on cognitive health.

Citation needed

You can actually find citations. The real question is much the funding from alcohol companies influenced the direction of their research.

I can find weak citations for cardiovascular health, and citations for neural atrophy. I can’t find the citations you’re claiming are there to find.

That gives me an idea. A law that enforces investment in both sides of the coin. Budweiser should invest in insurance.

Until five years ago the consensus view was that moderate alcohol consumption lowered all-cause mortality compared to non-drinkers.

Latest meta-analyses say that after controlling for reasons behind non-drinkers (‘former alcoholics’) the effect disappears.

Good starting point is https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26997174/

And in five years the consensus might change again. Excessive use of everything is harmful. Use common sense.

Thank you for sharing this research. As someone who abstains from drinking and is very health-conscious, I've been conflicted about all the research supposedly showing health benefits of moderate drinking. The evidence just seemed too intuitive. This gives me something to explore.

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