alcohol consumption

New Research Challenges Theory That Moderate Alcohol Consumption Benefits Heart Health

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Refusing Alcohol Drink

Any observed benefit likely results from other lifestyle factors common among light to moderate drinkers, say researchers.

  • In an observational analysis of UK Biobank participants, light to moderate drinkers had the lowest heart disease risk, followed by people who abstained from drinking. But, light to moderate drinkers tended to have healthier lifestyles than abstainers, which likely accounted for better heart health.
  • Genetic evidence in this same population suggested that all levels of alcohol intake are associated with increased cardiovascular risk.
  • Notably, the risk of cardiovascular disease linked to light alcohol consumption was modest but rose exponentially with higher intake, even at intake levels currently endorsed as “low risk.”

Observational research has suggested that light alcohol consumption may provide heart-related health benefits, but in a large study published in JAMA Network Open, alcohol intake at all levels was linked with higher risks of cardiovascular disease. The findings, which are published by a team led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, suggest that the supposed benefits of alcohol consumption may actually be attributed to other lifestyle factors that are common among light to moderate drinkers.

The study included 371,463 adults—with an average age of 57 years and an average alcohol consumption of 9.2 drinks per week—who were participants in the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database and research resource containing in-depth genetic and health information. Consistent with earlier studies, investigators found that light to moderate drinkers had the lowest heart disease risk, followed by people who abstained from drinking. People who drank heavily had the highest risk. However, the team also found that light to moderate drinkers tended to have healthier lifestyles than abstainers—such as more physical activity and vegetable intake, and less smoking. Taking just a few lifestyle factors into account significantly lowered any benefit associated with alcohol consumption.

“Reducing alcohol intake will likely reduce cardiovascular risk in all individuals.”

Krishna G. Aragam, MD, MS
Cardiology, Massachusetts General Hospital

The study also applied the latest techniques in a method called Mendelian randomization, which uses genetic variants to determine whether an observed link between an exposure and an outcome is consistent with a causal effect—in this case, whether light alcohol consumption causes a person to be protected against cardiovascular disease. “Newer and more advanced techniques in ‘non-linear Mendelian randomization’ now permit the use of human genetic data to evaluate the direction and magnitude of disease risk associated with different levels of an exposure,” says senior author Krishna G. Aragam, MD, MS, a cardiologist at MGH and an associate scientist at the Broad Institute. “We therefore leveraged these new techniques and expansive genetic and phenotypic data from biobank populations to better understand the association between habitual alcohol intake and cardiovascular disease.”

When the scientists conducted such genetic analyses of samples taken from participants, they found that individuals with genetic variants that predicted higher alcohol consumption were indeed more likely to consume greater amounts of alcohol, and more likely to have hypertension and coronary artery disease. The analyses also revealed substantial differences in cardiovascular risk across the spectrum of alcohol consumption among both men and women, with minimal increases in risk when going from zero to seven drinks per week, much higher risk increases when progressing from seven to 14 drinks per week, and especially high risk when consuming 21 or more drinks per week.  Notably, the findings suggest a rise in cardiovascular risk even at levels deemed “low risk” by national guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (i.e. below two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women).

The discovery that the relationship between alcohol intake and cardiovascular risk is not a linear one but rather an exponential one was supported by an additional analysis of data on 30,716 participants in the Mass General Brigham Biobank. Therefore, while cutting back on consumption can benefit even people who drink one alcoholic beverage per day, the health gains of cutting back may be more substantial – and, perhaps, more clinically meaningful – in those who consume more.

“The findings affirm that alcohol intake should not be recommended to improve cardiovascular health; rather, that reducing alcohol intake will likely reduce cardiovascular risk in all individuals, albeit to different extents based on one’s current level of consumption,” says Aragam.

Alcohol Consumption Linked to Acceleration of Alzheimer’s Disease

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Summary: Even modest consumption of alcohol can accelerate brain atrophy and increase amyloid plaque formation. The findings reveal alcohol consumption can accelerate Alzheimer’s disease pathologies.

Source: Wake Forest University

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60% to 80% of dementia cases, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. While current research suggests alcohol use disorder is a risk factor in Alzheimer’s disease, the impact alcohol use disorder has on Alzheimer’s disease pathology is an area of continued research.

In a new preclinical study, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine showed that even modest amounts of alcohol can accelerate brain atrophy, which is the loss of brain cells, and increase the number of amyloid plaques, which are the accumulation of toxic proteins in Alzheimer’s disease.

The study appears in Neurobiology of Disease.

“These findings suggest alcohol might accelerate the pathological cascade of Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages,” said Shannon Macauley, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

The study was a collaboration led by Macauley and Jeffrey Weiner, Ph.D., professor of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, through the medical school’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Translational Alcohol Research Center.

Using mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease-related pathology, researchers used a 10-week chronic drinking approach where mice were given the choice to drink water or alcohol, mimicking human behavior regarding alcohol consumption. They then explored how voluntary, moderate consumption of alcohol altered healthy brain function and behavior and whether it altered the pathology associated with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers found that alcohol increased brain atrophy and caused an increased number of amyloid plaques including a greater number of smaller plaques, potentially setting the stage for increased plaque proliferation in later life.

This shows half empty wine glasses
even modest amounts of alcohol can accelerate brain atrophy, which is the loss of brain cells, and increase the number of amyloid plaques, which are the accumulation of toxic proteins in Alzheimer’s disease.

Interestingly, researchers also noted that acute withdrawal of alcohol increased the levels of amyloid-beta, which is a key component of amyloid plaques that accumulate in Alzheimer’s disease.

Further analysis showed that chronic alcohol exposure poorly regulated brain and peripheral metabolism—another way to accelerate Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Macauley previously showed that elevated blood sugar increases amyloid-beta and amyloid plaques.

In the current study, researchers found that even moderate drinking caused elevations in blood sugar and markers of insulin resistance, which increases the risk not only for Alzheimer’s disease but also for other diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The study also found that moderate alcohol use altered anxiety and dementia-related behaviors.

“These preclinical findings suggest that even moderate consumption of alcohol can result in brain injury,” Macauley said. “Alcohol consumption may be a modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.”

Ethanol exposure alters Alzheimer’s-related pathology, behavior, and metabolism in APP/PS1 mice

Epidemiological studies identified alcohol use disorder (AUD) as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), yet there is conflicting evidence on how alcohol use promotes AD pathology. In this study, a 10-week moderate two-bottle choice drinking paradigm was used to identify how chronic ethanol exposure alters amyloid-β (Aβ)-related pathology, metabolism, and behavior.

Ethanol-exposed APPswe/PSEN1dE9 (APP/PS1) mice showed increased brain atrophy and an increased number of amyloid plaques. Further analysis revealed that ethanol exposure led to a shift in the distribution of plaque size in the cortex and hippocampus.

Ethanol-exposed mice developed a greater number of smaller plaques, potentially setting the stage for increased plaque proliferation in later life. Ethanol drinking APP/PS1 mice also exhibited deficits in nest building, a metric of self-care, as well as increased locomotor activity and central zone exploration in an open field test. Ethanol exposure also led to a diurnal shift in feeding behavior which was associated with changes in glucose homeostasis and glucose intolerance.

Complementary in vivo microdialysis experiments were used to measure how acute ethanol directly modulates Aβ in the hippocampal interstitial fluid (ISF). Acute ethanol transiently increased hippocampal ISF glucose levels, suggesting that ethanol directly affects cerebral metabolism. Acute ethanol also selectively increased ISF Aβ40, but not ISF Aβ42, levels during withdrawal.

Lastly, chronic ethanol drinking increased N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and decreased γ-aminobutyric acid type-A receptor (GABAAR) mRNA levels, indicating a potential hyperexcitable shift in the brain’s excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) balance. Collectively, these experiments suggest that ethanol may increase Aβ deposition by disrupting metabolism and the brain’s E/I balance.

Furthermore, this study provides evidence that a moderate drinking paradigm culminates in an interaction between alcohol use and AD-related phenotypes with a potentiation of AD-related pathology, behavioral dysfunction, and metabolic impairment.

Type 2 Diabetes Could Be a Cause of Erectile Dysfunction

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Type 2 diabetes may be a causal factor in the development of erectile dysfunction (ED), with insulin resistance a likely mediating pathway, results of a large-scale genomic analysis suggest. The data also uncovered a genetic locus linked to ED.

Jonas Bovijn, MD, DPhil, Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and colleagues gathered data on more than 220,000 men across three cohorts, of whom more than 6000 had ED.

The researchers initially showed that a region on chromosome 6 is linked to the development of ED. The location suggested that the condition is associated with dysregulation of the hypothalamus.

Next, they performed a Mendelian randomization analysis, which examined the relationship between gene mutations known to be associated, in this case, with cardiometabolic factors and the outcome of ED.

The research, published online December 20 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, showed that a genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes increased the risk for ED. The risk was driven primarily by susceptibility to insulin resistance.

Bovijn said in a release: “We know that there is observational evidence linking erectile dysfunction and type 2 diabetes, but until now there has not been definitive evidence to show that predisposition to type 2 diabetes causes erectile dysfunction.”

“Further research is needed to explore the extent to which drugs used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes might be repurposed for the treatment of ED,” the team notes.

Co–senior author Anna Murray, PhD, University of Exeter Medical School, United Kingdom, said in the release that “until now little has been known” about the cause of ED.

Previous studies have suggested there is a genetic basis for ED. The new study goes further by demonstrating that a genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes is linked to ED, according to Murray.

“That may mean that if people can reduce their risk of diabetes through healthier lifestyles, they may also avoid developing erectile dysfunction,” she said.

Michael Holmes, MD, PhD, of the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford, who was one of the senior authors, agreed.

“Our finding is important, as diabetes is preventable, and indeed one can now achieve ‘remission’ from diabetes with weight loss, as illustrated in recent clinical trials.

“This goes beyond finding a genetic link to erectile dysfunction to a message that is of widespread relevance to the general public, especially considering the burgeoning prevalence of diabetes,” Holmes said.

Large Studies Key

Although the prevalence of ED is known to increase with age, rising to 20% to 40% among men aged 60 to 69 years, the genetic architecture of the condition remains poorly understood. This is at least in part due to a lack of well-powered studies.

The researchers therefore conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using data on 199,362 individuals from the UK Biobank cohort and 16,787 people from the Estonian Genome Center of the University of Tartu (EGCUT) cohort, both of which are population based.

In addition, they included information on 7666 participants in the hospital-recruited Partners HealthCare Biobank (PHB) cohort.

The prevalence of ED, which was determined on the basis of self- or physician-reported ED, the use of oral ED medication, or a history of ED surgical intervention, was 1.53% in the UK Biobank, 7.04% in EGCUT, and 25.35% in PHB.

The researchers believe that the difference in prevalence rates between the cohorts may relate to the older average age for men in PHB, at 65 years, vs 59 years in the UK Biobank and 42 in EGCUT. In addition, the prevalence in the UK Biobank cohort may have been affected by a “healthy volunteer” selection bias and a lack of primary care data.

GWAS on the UK Biobank data indicated that there was a single genome-wide significant locus at 6q16.3 between the MCHR2 and SIM1 genes, with rs57989773 the lead variant.

Pooled meta-analysis of the combined cohorts indicated that rs57989773 was associated with ED at an odds ratio of 1.20 per C-allele (P = 5.71 × 10-14).

Synthesizing previous research on SIM1, which is highly expressed in the hypothalamus, in both human and rodent models, the team found that rs57989773 is associated with syncope, orthostatic hypotension, and urinary incontinence.

Moreover, the common risk variant for ED at 6q16.3 is linked to blood pressure and adiposity, as well as male sexual behavior in mice.

The researchers, therefore, suggest that a potential mechanism for the effect of the MCHR2-SIM1 locus on ED could be the hypothalamic dysregulation of SIM1.

The team also performed Mendelian randomization analyses to examine the potential causal role of cardiometabolic traits in ED risk.

Factors included type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, systolic blood pressure (SBP), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, smoking heaviness, alcohol consumption, body mass index, coronary heart disease, and educational attainment.

The analysis revealed that type 2 diabetes was causally implicated in ED, with the risk for ED increased 1.11-fold with each 1-log higher genetic risk for type 2 diabetes (P = 3.5 × 10-4).

Insulin resistance was found to be a likely mediating pathway for the relationship, with an odds ratio for ED of 1.36 per 1 SD genetic increase in insulin resistance (P = .042).

SBP also had a causal effect on ED risk, at an odds ratio of 2.34 per 1 SD increase in SBP (P = .007).

LDL cholesterol was found to have a minor impact on the risk for ED, at an odds ratio of 1.07 per 1 SD increase in levels (P = .113). There was no association between ED and either smoking heaviness or alcohol use.

Source:Medscape.com

The Spiritual Consequences of Alcohol Consumption | The Costa Rica News

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Although it is mass produced, mass promoted, legal, and ingested by a multitude of people all over the world, most people don’t ever consider or understand the spiritual consequences of drinking alcohol.

Let’s begin by taking a look at the etymology of the Word alcohol. Etymology means the root of the word… where it is derived from.

alternative medicine costa rica

The word “Alcohol” comes from the Arabic “al-kuhl” which means “BODY EATING SPIRIT”, and gives root origins to the English term for “ghoul”. In Middle Eastern folklore, a “ghoul” is an evil demon thought to eat human bodies, either as stolen corpses or as children.

The words “alembic” and “alcohol”, both metaphors for aqua vitae or “life water” and “spirit”, often refer to a distilled liquid that came from magical explorations in Middle Eastern alchemy.

In the words of writer and health enthusiast, Jason Christoff –  “In alchemy, alcohol is used to extract the soul essence of an entity. Hence its’ use in extracting essences for essential oils, and the sterilization of medical instruments. By consuming alcohol into the body, it in effect extracts the very essence of the soul, allowing the body to be more susceptible to neighboring entities most of which are of low frequencies (why do you think we call certain alcoholic beverages “SPIRITS?”). That is why people who consume excessive amounts of alcohol often black out, not remembering what happened. This happens when the good soul (we were sent here with) leaves because the living conditions are too polluted and too traumatic to tolerate. The good soul jettisons the body, staying connected to a tether, and a dark entity takes the body for a joy ride around the block, often in a hedonistic and self-serving illogical rampage. Our bodies are cars for spirits. If one leaves, another can take the car for a ride. Essentially when someone goes dark after drinking alcohol or polluting themselves in many other ways, their body often becomes possessed by another entity.”

I became aware of this phenomenon years ago when I was given a spiritual vision. In this vision, I was transported as an observer above a popular bar and nightclub. Above the venue where a variety of ghoul-like entities. Inside the bar were people drinking alcohol, socializing, dancing, and so on. I watched as certain people became very drunk. I saw their souls, while connected through a thread, exited the body. I understood that the soul was leaving the body because of the great discomfort of being in a body highly intoxicated with alcohol. When the soul exited the body, other non-benevolent entities entered or latched on to their vacant shells. Once the entities took hold of the body, they used the body to play out all kinds of dark acts, such as violence, low-level sexual encounters, destructive behaviors, rape, and more.

Years later, while reading a book called Mans Eternal Quest, by Paramahansa Yogananda, this spiritual master clearly explained the exact same thing as I was shown in the vision.

I began to look back over my life and remember situations where I saw dark spirits hanging around people who had become very drunk. Let me elaborate a bit when I say I saw these entities … I have had the abilities of clairvoyance (the ability to perceive things beyond the natural range of the senses … which can include: ESP, extrasensory perception, sixth sense, psychic powers, second sight; telepathy, and more) , clairaudience ( the ability to perceive sounds or words from outside sources in the spirit world), and the experience of being a spiritual intuitive and empath since childhood. I have the ability to see energies and spiritual manifestations that most people don’t see. As I looked back over my life I could remember many incidents of encountering non-benevolent spirits in the presence of intoxicated individuals. I also have had experiences of looking into the eyes of a few people who were surely “possessed” by dark energies that were not their own.

I also remember a psychology course I once took. In part of this course, we studied advertising and the effects on humans. We looked at the advertising for alcohol. A master teacher of this subject illuminated the fact that most alcohol advertisements are embedded with hidden messages and images – not typically perceivable to the common sight, yet perceived through the subconscious. Knowing how powerful the subconscious is in our decisión making, feelings, reactions, beliefs, etc., the slick sales teams of alcohol (as well as tobacco and other products) used this sinister technique to trick us into buying their products and joining the societal cult of mental apathy and cultural obedience. Many of these hidden messages and images were extremely sexual – working to influence some of the basest urges and primal nature of humans. Let this example bring you to a place of curiosity and questioning. Why have the marketing teams felt the need to trick us and coerce us through subliminal messages to buy products that are harmful to the human body and to our soul?

alternative medicine costa rica

How many times have you or someone you know, after becoming quite intoxicated with alcohol, behaved in a manner uncommon to them? Perhaps you experienced the changing of voice, violence, sexual promiscuity, ingesting of harmful substances, destruction to property, conflictual behavior, and other negative expressions. Consider these experiences and ask yourself – is this the manifestation of light, love, and positivity? Do these occurrences represent a path of consciousness and health?

It is a known by many that ingesting alcohol depresses the nervous system, kills brain cells, is toxic to the liver, weakens the immune system, and has many other harmful effects.  We are taught that long-term alcohol use can lead to unwanted weight gain, diseases of the liver, lowering of intelligence, and negative effects on hormones. Drinking alcohol while pregnant can lead to birth defects, mental retardation, and deformities in the developing fetus. Yet still, it is mass promoted and supported by our mainstream culture. Have you ever considered that alcohol is a slick tool of the supporters of the Matrix (global mind control and oppression program) to keep people on a path of disempowerment and sickness?

We have to ask why is alcohol legal throughout most of the world, yet in many countries, and specifically the United States, psychedelics are illegal. The conscious and safe use of psychedelics or “visionary medicines”are known to assist in mind expansion, to initiate spiritual experiences where people have communed with the divine, healed numerous physical and spiritual ailments, increase intelligence, help to re-pattern the brain in a positive way, assist people in aligning with their soul’s purpose, and have inspired many people to create great works of art and other innovative creations. It seems that these substances would definitely be banned and discouraged if there truly is an agenda seeking to oppress the human potential and keep us “in the dark” regarding who we are as spiritual beings, our innate potential, and the path to empowerment.

As we strive to heal, awaken, and transform our world – I pray that we wise up to the dirty trick played upon humanity in regards to alcohol. Non-benevolent forces have wanted to keep us oppressed, disempowered, and asleep.

How many of us have seen families broken and lives lost because of alcohol and alcoholism?

Do you think it makes us smarter or healthier or overall better people?

It’s time to change things.

Let’s stand behind replacing the rampant abuse of alcohol with more health enhancing practices and activities –

and learn how to live awakened and empowered lives!

Before I close this writing, I want to share a little more about the history of the word alcohol. There have been some people who look into the etymology and discover this explanation –

“alcohol (n.)  – 1540s (early 15c. as alcofol), “fine powder produced by sublimation,” from Medieval Latin alcohol “powdered ore of antimony,” from Arabic al-kuhul “kohl,” the fine metallic powder used to darken the eyelids, from kahala “to stain, paint.”

Paracelsus (1493-1541) used the word to refer to a fine powder but also a volatile liquid. By 1670s it was being used in English for “any sublimated substance, the pure spirit of anything,” including liquids. Sense of “intoxicating ingredient in strong liquor” is first recorded 1753, short for alcohol of wine, which was extended to “the intoxicating element in fermented liquors.” In organic chemistry, the word was extended 1850 to the class of compounds of the same type as this.”

drug addiction costa ricaUpon further research, we can find that in ancient Egypt, the eyes of both men and women were lined top and bottom with a thick black powder known as kohl, kajal, or mesdemet. The outlined eye resembled the almond-shaped eye of the falcon god Horus observed in the Eye of Horus glyph. It was believed that this shape invoked the god´s protection and warded off evil spirits.

Yet if one were to dig deeper, as a true scientist, researcher, or truth seeker does, you will also discover these interesting facts…

  1. Dr. Rachel Hajar, an accomplished modern-day editor, author and medical advisor, while researching an article on alcohol for her online medical journal, found additional meanings in ancient Arabic texts;
  1. Al kol: Genie or spirit that takes on varied shapes or a supernatural creature in Arabic mythology.
  1. Al kol: Any drug or substance that takes away the mind or covers it.”
  1. The word alcohol is also linked to the fixed star in astronomy known as Algol- also known as “the Demon’s head.”
  1. The current Arabic name for alcohol (ethanol) is الغول al-ġawl – properly meaning “spirit” or “demon”.

It is not a coincidence that alcohol has often been referred to as spirits. There is a deep history behind this intoxicating substance. There are layers of information throughout our culture, sometimes we have to look below the surface of things to find the fullness of truth. I encourage you to deeply consider the information shared here, look at the effects of alcohol in your life, in the lives of the people you know, and in society at large. Make conscious, informed, and health enhancing decisions. The more people who awaken to truth and seek health and liberation from mind control agendas, the more likely we are to make positive changes and co-create a world we feel good about living in.

Source:http://thecostaricanews.com

Secret of healthy ageing discovered in ground-breaking 35-year study

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The volunteers from Caerphilly
The volunteers from Caerphilly gave regular reports of physical activity, alcohol consumption, and diet  

The writer Kingsley Amis once quipped that there was no pleasure worth giving up for the sake of two more years in a geriatric home in Weston-super-Mare.

But for pensioners who have been following a pioneering health regime for the last 35 years, an ascetic lifestyle appears to be the secret of a fit and happy old age.

In 1979, 2,500 men were asked to follow five simple rules – eat well, work out, drink less, keep their weight down and never smoke.

Nearly four decades on, just 25 pensioners have managed to stick to the plan. But they are all far fitter and healthier than the volunteers who gave up.

Those who stuck to the plan have dramatically cut their risk of cancer, diabetes, heart-attack, stroke and dementia.

Retired teacher Leighton Jones, 80, rides 35 miles a week around the hills and valleys near his home in Caerphilly, South Wales and walks up to two miles every other day.

“I have followed the healthy steps for many years now and feel pretty fit. Cycling keeps my body fit while scrabble keep the mind fit,” said Grandad Mr Jones.

“I do have a beer or wine most nights but I drink in moderation.”

Bachelor Ray Grace, 80, also kept up with the regime for 35 years. He travels all over Wales and the West Country refereeing college American football matches and walks and jogs two miles every day near his home in the village of Llanbradach.

He said: “I’ll go on as long as I am able to. I’ve been refereeing for nearly 30 years now and still get a thrill out of it.”

“As far as I’m concerned it’s been a great success. It has been invaluable for me and I’m pleased to have been part of it.

“I’ve stuck pretty well to the healthy lifestyle laid down and met with the researchers half a dozen times over the years.”

The volunteers, all from Caerphilly gave researchers regular reports of their physical activity, alcohol consumption, and diet. Their wives and families helped by completing regular food frequency questionnaires.

The recommended physical activity was to walk two or more miles to work each day, cycle 10 or more miles to work each day, or regular “vigorous” exercise.

Every five years the men were re-questioned and re-examined along with their medical records to identify new cases of diabetes, heart disease and strokes.

The researchers found non-smoking, an acceptable BMI, a high fruit and vegetable intake, regular physical activity, and moderate alcohol intake were associated with reductions in the incidence of certain chronic diseases.

Study leader Professor Peter Elwood, of Cardiff University, said: “As a nation, we must wake up to the preventive power of living a healthy life.

“Thirty years ago, only 25 men in our study followed all five of our recommended healthy steps.

“Following these steps did not give them complete protection against disease but the men who developed a disease, did so at a much older age than the men neglectful of their lifestyle.

“The development of heart disease was delayed by up to 12 years, and it was up to around an additional six years before dementia took its grip.

“It shows that following a healthy lifestyle staves off disease and premature death.”

The reduction in cases of dementia was welcomed by experts yesterday.

Alzheimer’s Society Research Communications Manager Clare Walton said: “We have known for some time that what is good for your heart is also good for your head.

“The landmark Caerphilly study, part funded by Alzheimer’s Society, showed that healthy living can reduce the chances of dementia by up to 60 per cent.”

Dementia expert Professor John Gallacher of Cardiff University said: “The Caerphilly Study has made a tremendous contribution to UK Science.

“These are exciting times as we gear-up to do research that will bring significant public benefit, helping older people everywhere to have longer and more satisfying lives.”

Work Performance Not Affected By Alcohol Consumption

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Trending News: Drinking Doesn’t Impact Work Performance… As Long As You Get Enough Sleep

Why Is This Important?
Because you can go out and get drunk on a work night, as long as you get your beauty sleep.

Health & Sports News: Study: Work Performance Not Affected By Alcohol Consumption

Long Story Short

Researchers at Cambridge University have found that while there is a clear link between a lack of sleep and poor productivity, smoking and drinking alcohol appear to have no effect at all on how you perform in the office.

Long Story

Going out drinking mid-week isn’t a problem as long as you’re tucked up in bed by midnight, a new study seems to suggest.

Research involving over 21,000 employees by Rand Europe and the University of Cambridge, commissioned by health insurance company Vitality Health as part of their ‘Britain’s Healthiest Company’ survey, investigated the key factors that affect performance at work and found that a lack of sleep was the biggest productivity killer, causing ‘presenteeism’ — a state of being at work but not getting the job done to the best of one’s ability.

It was discovered that those who slept for six hours or less were much less able to perform their jobs than workers who got seven or eight hours of shut eye. Workers who felt under undue levels of pressure or had financial concerns or mental health problems also proved less able to work.

But the most surprising takeaway from the data was that those who drank alcohol and smoked the night before showed no discernible ill effects at work.

“It’s something we discussed at length when we were going through the data, because we were quite surprised,” Vitality Health director of strategy Shaun Subel is quoted as saying by the Financial Times. But Subel was keen to stress that a heavy drinking lifestyle could have long-term effects on productivity rather than the short-term measurements taken by the test.

The Financial Times also points out that the study relied on self-reporting and subjects may have been slightly dishonest about their productivity or what they got up to the night before.

The link between sleep deprivation and poor performance has been proven in the past. In 2012, a study at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that participants who were given an average of 5.6 hours sleep per night for three weeks saw their ability to work gradually decline.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: But seriously, how much can I really drink tonight and still be OK tomorrow?

Disrupt Your Feed: If it’s lack of sleep rather than alcohol that hurts productivity then surely the responsible thing to do is make sure you get wasted quickly. Shots?

Drop This Fact: In 2013, researchers from Uppsala University in Swedenreported that going without sleep for one night brought about similar changes in the brain to a blow to the head.

Metabolic agents among drugs commonly used by current drinkers

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Simultaneous exposure to alcohol and alcohol-interactive prescription drugs is prevalent in US adults, with metabolic agents among the most commonly used, according to findings published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey suggest that more than 5% of patients who reported drinking alcohol in the previous year were on antidiabetic therapies and more than 11% were taking antihyperlipidemics, with the prevalence rate greater than 14% in the therapeutic medication class overall. Among current drinkers aged at least 65 years, 36.5% were on metabolic agents.

“Given the adverse health risks of combining alcohol with alcohol-interactive prescription medications, future efforts are needed to collect data to determine actual simultaneous prevalence,” the researchers wrote.

Cardiovascular and central nervous system agents also were among the alcohol-interactive (AI) medications most commonly used by current drinkers.

Rosalind A. Breslow, PhD, MPH, of the division of epidemiology and prevention research,

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, and colleagues examined data on past year alcohol consumption and past month prescription medication use for 26,657 adults aged at least 20 years.

The researchers adjusted analyses for age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status and smoking. Survey stratification, clustering and nonresponse were accounted for in statistical procedures.

The total prevalence of AI medication use was 42.8% (95% CI, 41.5-44). Among current drinkers, the prevalence was 41.5% (95% CI, 40.3-42.7).

Among participants aged at least 65 years, total prevalence of AI medication use was 78.6% (95% CI, 77.3-79.9). The prevalence among current drinkers was 77.8% (95% CI, 75.7-79.7).

The high prevalence of AI medication seen among current drinkers suggests, but does not prove or quantify, substantial prevalence of simultaneous exposure, according to the researchers.

“We were surprised by the lack of data to determine simultaneous prevalence given the serious consequences of combined alcohol-AI medication use,” the researchers wrote. “The findings of our study highlight a major gap in available data and the need to collect it.”

The researchers called it “critical” to understand in greater detail the relationships between alcohol consumption and AI medication in the United States, given the potential for negative interactions.