Hacker News Reader

Comment by TheSpiceIsLife | Hacker News Reader

> consuming large amounts (>21-28 units/week) was associated with an increased risk of dementia compared with light to moderate (7-21 units/week) consumption.4

The idea that 21 units of alcohol per week is moderate and also heavy drinking is.... preposterous.

Consider: drinking alcohol (ethanol) is a Group 1 carcinogen.[1] There is no level of alcohol consumption that is safe.

21 units of alcohol per week should always be considered heavy drinking.

1. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/general-info/kno...

View on HN

Just finishing reading "Why We Sleep" and it talks about a lack of sufficient sleep being chronically linked with dementia. Alcohol is a major inhibitor of REM sleep, so if you go to sleep intoxicated, you may be technically asleep but you loose a lot of its benefits. So, I wonder if it's the alcohol -> limits effects of sleep -> induces dementia.

a class 1 carcinogen only means the substance is known to cause cancer. this is not the same thing as saying "there is no level of consumption that is safe".

from your own reference,

"for any particular person, the risk of developing cancer depends on many factors, including how they are exposed to a carcinogen, the length and intensity of the exposure, and the person's genetic makeup."

to be clear, a unit of alcohol is defined as 10ml, or the equivalent of 1/3 of a pint of beer.

so 21 units a week is only equal to a single beer per day. i would not say its "preposterous" to call that moderate.

See DanBC's comment...a unit is based on volume and alcohol content, so 1 unit != 1 drink. Roughly speaking, 7 units is 1 serving of beer, so 21 units is just 3 beers a week, which does appear to be light to moderate alcohol consumption.

Consider: "drinking alcohol (ethanol) is a Group 1 carcinogen.[1] There is no level of alcohol consumption that is safe." Bullshit!

https://psmag.com/social-justice/truth-wont-admit-drinking-h...

Actually, there have been numerous studies that have concluded that moderate alcohol consumption reduced mortality rates. ref: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4803651/

Alcohol is a solvent. It dissolves stuff. Sometimes that is helpful in the workshop where you can see what you are doing. The same can't be said about inside your own head even though our ancestors have been experimenting for millennia.

Anyone done comparison studies with the Muslim world?

I was wondering that too. Mormons would be a good subject group as well.

Water is a solvent as well. In fact, it dissolves more substances than any other liquid on earth. What is your point?

I just wanted to be down-voted.

Not only that, but water has the highest pH of any acid!

Fats dissolve in alcohol so one reason alcohol can be cardio protective is that it literally clears out your arteries. It also raises blood pressure, which effects kidneys and other organs, and can cause other problems possibly stroke. A bigger problem is that alcohol is metabolized into acetaldehyde which if you get too much of causes problems long term.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com