# Right Amount of Alcohol ?



## Intrepid (Feb 20, 2005)

In the Wall Street Journal today, there is a discussion about an Rx that will apparently let alcoholics drink without triggering the alcoholic reaction. An MD wrote in saying that the damage to the alcoholics liver outweighed the advantages of the Rx.

In the NY Times Science section on Tuesdays there are frequent articles about how 2 drinks per day lessen the chance of a heart attack or a stroke.

My fraternity brothers and guys that I flew with in the Air Force in the 50s, that were heavy drinkers,are all dead. On the other hand, the guys that I hang around with now, at a later point in life, can put away multiple martinis, and are well into their 70s and 80s. Churchill made it into his 80s and apparently drank from AM to PM.

There are a number of MDs, at least one chemist, and one board member that worked in a substance abuse clinic that probably have more valid opinions on the subject than what appears to be the common wisdom in the press.

Just wondered.

Best regards, Bill


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## Herrsuit (Aug 4, 2009)

I'm not an MD but have friends who are. I've been told that genetics plays a large part in the body's tolerance for long-term high-volume alcohol use.


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## chatsworth osborne jr. (Feb 2, 2008)

*Died of what?*

My conventional wisdom is that the health of skid row drunks suffers because alcohol replaces food, shelter. Kind of like smoking, the people who do it to excess are probably not making _any_ good health decisions in their life, so there's a compounding effect.

Also, big difference if four drinks are consumed over four hours or in fifteen minutes.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

As one whose old man was an abusive, mean drunk and as a retired cop who has had to help clear the debris in the aftermath of accidents caused by drunk drivers and notify next of kin, that a loved one would not be coming home, I cannot honestly claim to care much about the harm a drunks drinking might be doing to their own body. The adverse effects of excessive alcohol consumption, unfortunately and all too often, extend far beyond the body of the drunk!


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

But does it say like what type of alcohol that'll lessen the chances?


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## PetroLandman (Apr 21, 2006)

There was a boy I grew up with, a year older than I, who started drinking quite early and as his dad was an elder in our church (my dad was the minister) he couldn't drink anything that could be smelled. He discovered a product probably NOT in any of our medicine cabinets called Baker's Hair Tonic. He drank that until I lost the connection with him after his father's death and his mother's death. Only four days ago his obituary appeared in the newspaper. He died at age 60 apparently from some form of cancer. Maybe Baker's Hair Tonic is the key.


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

eagle2250 said:


> The adverse effects of excessive alcohol consumption, unfortunately and all too often, extend far beyond the body of the drunk!


You are absolutely right. When I was married my then wife had her own encounter with a drunk driver. It took an hour and a half just to cut her from the wreckage. Her only consolation today, nearly 20 years later; her handicapped license plate lets her park close to the mall during the Christmas shopping rush. Some consolation.










Cruiser


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^
Cruiser: I feel your pain...thank-you for sharing that. Will the drunks ever learn that they should take a cab or get a sober friend to drive them home, rather than blindly visiting such unnecessary destruction and pain on so many others?


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