Myth or reality: Can alcohol be useful?
Text: Anton Mukhataev
EVERY DAY WE HAVE ANY THOUSANDS OF POPULAR COUNCILS, rules and statements, many of which actually turn out to be fallacies. We are launching a series of materials in which we will dissect popular opinions and find out whether they are related to reality. Today we understand whether it is possible to improve health with the help of alcohol.
The fact that everything is good in moderation, including alcohol, we hear constantly. As follows from numerous studies, moderate and regular consumption of alcohol reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, improves potency, protects against colds, dementia, diabetes and gallstones. And most importantly, if you drink a glass of wine every day at dinner, then you will live supposedly longer than others.
That is why they usually struggle not with alcohol itself, but with excessive consumption of alcohol, that is, drunkenness. At the same time, research has always indicated that even moderate alcohol consumption can lead to accidents, increased aggression and increase the risk of breast cancer. Therefore, even if you drink a little, it is better to do it carefully, scientists say. "The combination of moderate alcohol consumption and physical activity really does seem to be beneficial in reducing the risk of heart disease," says cardiologist Ellen Mason. "However, excessive alcohol consumption negates these positive effects."
So, it’s not worth waiting for anything good from drinking alcohol?
For the first time that the benefits of alcohol are not so straightforward and may depend on the genotype of the person, they started talking back in 1995. Then there was a study in which 1236 men from Northern Ireland and France participated. The authors of the work have found that a connection is traced between the genotype of people and how alcohol affects their health.
Since then, only staff at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden have managed to achieve a comparable sample. They selected two groups for the study: 618 people with coronary heart disease and a control group of 2,921 people. The subjects answered what kind of alcoholic beverages they prefer, how often they drink, whether they smoke, what they do in their free time, and also indicate their marital status.
Having obtained the necessary data, the scientists began to search for people who have a special variation of the CETP gene that stimulates the production of "good cholesterol." It turned out that drinking alcohol does help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, the mere presence of a gene or moderate alcohol consumption does not reduce the risk. Therefore, the next time you hear that alcohol in moderate doses is good for your health, think about whether there is a high probability that you and your interlocutor treat 15% of people with the desired variation of the gene. "In itself, moderate alcohol consumption does not improve health, nor does it belong to a certain genotype. But if these two factors converge, then the risk of heart disease is indeed reduced," explains epidemiologist Dag Tell. "If we can completely describe this mechanism, then we will be able to test and determine if a person is 15% lucky. So we can advise who drinks a lot. "
Photo: 1, 2 Shutterstock
The material was first published on the site Look At Me