Here’s some interesting alcohol news
“And since the day I left Milwaukee
Lynchburg, Bourbon, France
Been making a fool out of folks
Just like you
And helping white people dance
I am medicine and I am poison
I can help you up or make you fall
You had some of the best times
You’ll never remember with me
Alcohol”
Brad Paisley’s popular song “Alcohol” speaks an uncomfortable truth: overconsumption of alcohol is both common and socially acceptable in our society. April is the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence’s Alcohol Awareness month. Designed to draw attention to the pervasive impact that alcohol, alcohol-related problems, and alcoholism have on young people, their friends, on families and in our communities, this year’s theme is “Help for Today. Hope For Tomorrow”.
- More than 18 million individuals or 8.5% of Americans suffer from alcohol-use disorders.
- 25% percent of U.S. children have been exposed to alcohol-use disorders in their family.
- The economic cost of alcoholism and alcohol abuse has recently been estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be $223.5 billion ($746 per person) or about $1.90 per drink
- costs largely result from losses in workplace productivity (72%)
- health care expenses for problems caused by excessive drinking (11%)
- law enforcement and other criminal justice expenses (9%)
- motor vehicle crash costs from impaired driving (6%)
Other scary stats:
- 75% of domestic abuse is committed while one or both members are intoxicated
- Up to 75% of the crimes are committed by people under the influence of alcohol
- Drinking and driving causes 16,000 deaths per year, and thousands more injuries
Some curious alcohol news
A new analysis of longitudinal data from 5,305 men and women interviewed reveals that long term marriage leads women to drink more — and men to drink less — than before they tied the knot. Married men consume fewer drinks compared to their single, divorced, or widowed peers. On the other hand, women consumed more drinks than those recently widowed. This is most likely a matching of habits within the marriage—since men, in general, consume more alcohol than women, their wives’ uptake in tippling is attributable to their tending to match their husband’s habits. But women face greater health risks than men (breast cancer among them), and may want to look for appropriate substitutions like bubbly water, grape juice, or tea.
Some good(?) alcohol news
Loads of studies have demonstrated that aerobic exercise can slow cognitive decline, but a new study focuses on brains affected by alcohol-related neurological damage. Can aerobic activity prevent or repair this kind of damage?
Heavy long-term alcohol consumption leads to neural damage that looks very similar to the degeneration of an aging brain. “Given that exercise is protective against some of the neural and cognitive effects of aging, it seemed likely that aerobic exercise may also work to reverse or prevent some of the damage to the brain caused by chronic alcohol consumption,” says Hollis C. Karoly, the corresponding author for the study. “We already know that heavy, chronic alcohol exposure is associated with widespread damage to the brain, but little is known about how this damage could be reversed or prevented. Aerobic exercise appears to be a promising candidate for decreasing alcohol-related brain damage.”