Enjoy Festive Season With Moderation In Drinking

Holiday season for some is bound to be a drinking season, a time when Dionysus blesses people with cornucopian flow of fermented grape juice. To ensure healthy drinking, we want to dispel common myths about alcohol so that you have a great and healthy start to 2012.

When it comes to health consequences of drinking, alcohol tends to be perceived in black and white instead of being understood in shades of grey. One should understand that its effects depend on amount of alcohol consumed. In high doses, alcohol almost always has negative consequences. It depresses the central nervous system, and with high enough dose, can do so to a fatal extent. Drinking large amounts of alcohol on a regular basis also damages many vital organs. Addiction to it can be devastating to families. However, in small and moderate doses, alcohol can be beneficial to both the health and interpersonal relationships. Low amounts of alcohol have been correlated with reduced dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, improved cardiac functioning, and reduced stroke incidences, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, gallbladder diseases, arthritis and few kinds of cancer with exception of breast cancer. Pregnant women should avoid alcohol, because in a small segment of population, even small amounts of ethanol can cause damage to the fetus, while in the majority a regular heavy consumption can alter the development of the fetus. It is always best to be safe when pregnant. Some reports suggest that breast cancer risk is slightly increased with regular alcohol consumption, even when consumed in not so high amounts, suggesting a moderate and occasional use by women who fall in the high-risk group for breast cancer. People with liver problems and those taking certain antidepressants should also stay away from alcohol altogether. Unfortunately, there is a large genetic factor when it comes to alcoholism so if one has family members who are seriously addicted to alcohol it is also advisable to stay away from it altogether.

In small amounts alcohol can act as a social lubricant and form bonds of friendship that can last a lifetime. While the initial effects of alcohol can include euphoria and excitation, in higher amounts it results in lethargy and mood alteration. Given that mood and judgment changes due to alcohol are not the same in everyone, one should know how they respond to alcohol and across board try not to make any important decisions when drunk. Alcohol lowers people’s inhibitions and thus can result in increases in sexual behaviors, but it most definitely does not make sex more pleasurable. Alcohol also dims sensation, which does not improve sex. In high amounts it prevents men from getting and maintaining an erection and lowers female sex drive. In fact, the decrease in inhibitions and cognitive functioning add to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases as well as unwanted pregnancies. No we are not saying that do not sip some wine if it gets you in the mood but we are certainly advising against being drunk that can make you regret your decisions. Alcohol slows down a person’s reactions, weakens depth perception and impairs their judgment even in small amounts so one should wait to sober up before driving. Thousands of people die each year because of drunk drivers. Also, there exist no shortcuts to sobriety except time. So wait after drinking before you drive. Drinking coffee does not speed up alcohol metabolism. It only makes one more consciously awake, but the alcohol is still present and many functions including your reaction time and depth perception are likely still impaired.

Given that alcohol can have many bad and devastating effects in excess, apart from its notably good effects in moderation, to control its excess there have been repeated calls and attempts to ban it. Unfortunately, history has taught us that prohibition at a large scale is always ineffective and usually counterproductive. Prohibition also increases crime and causes a huge circulation of illegally produced alcohol that is tainted and dangerous. Prohibition and social taboos also lead to binge drinking in shoddy places, along with increased incidents of drunk driving. The best strategy to combat alcoholism is to know about harmful effects of alcohol and to strictly enforce the illegality of drunk driving,

In summary, alcohol is one of the most widely abused substances, causing deaths and accidents far exceeding that caused by some of the so-called hard drugs. In contrast to cigarettes, which have no health benefits, alcohol if consumed wisely in small amounts can indeed be a boon to many adults. So we hope that if you stay away from alcohol there is no reason to start it but if you enjoy alcohol, please go ahead in moderation, knowing fully your health status, so you have many happy festive seasons ahead of you. Have a happy new year!

Brooks Robinson is an Austin, Tx based neuroscientist who studies, addiction, learning and memory in genetically amenable animal model systems. Dr. Sukant Khurana is a New York based scientist who is working on both basic and applied side of many health issues. Dr. Sukant Khurana and Brooks Robinson work together on addiction and learning research and many aspects of popular outreach about addiction issues. Their popular science writing on alcohol can be found at: https://sites.google.com/site/sukantkhurana2/

ENDS

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