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Drinking Alcohol and Longevity: Facts & Information

by David J. Hanson, Ph. D.

Research extending back as far as 1926 1 has demonstrated that drinking in moderation is associated with greater longevity than is either abstaining or abusing alcohol. The medical research evidence is now unquestionable and demonstrates that the effect is not the result of health-compromised alcoholics who abstain. When studies restrict abstainers to lifelong teetotalers the result is the same. Nor is it the result of moderate drinkers having better overall health habits. When lifestyle factors are taken into consideration, the result remains. And the effect occurs not only for red wine but also for white wine, beer, and liquor or distilled spirits.

Brief Reports on Alcohol and Longevity

U.S. Government: Moderate Drinking Benefits Health and Longevity

Alcohol and Longevity

Alcohol Associated with Longevity

Drinking Decreases Deaths

Moderate Drinkers Live Longer

Drinking Alcohol and Longevity: More Scientific Medical Research Evidence

Abstaining, Nursing Homes & Mortality

Slowing the Aging Process

Alcohol Saves Lives

Net Effect of Drinking Alcohol in Australia is a Saving of Lives Says Cancer Council

Have Better Health and Live Longer

Benefits of Drinking Result from Alcohol Itself

Readings on Alcohol and Longevity

Berger, K., et al. Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption and risk of Stroke among US male physicians. New England Journal of Medicine, 1999, 341(21), 1557-1564.

Blackwelder, W. C., et al. Alcohol and mortality. The Honolulu Heart Study. American Journal of Medicine, 1980, 68(2), 164-169.

Boffetta, P., and Garefinkel, L. Alcohol drinking among men enrolled in an American Cancer Society prospective study. Epidemiology, 1990, 1(5), 42-48.

Brenner, H., et al. The association between alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality in a cohort of male employees in the German construction industry, International Journal of Epidemiology, 1997, 26, 85-91.

Britton, A., and McPherson, K. Mortality in England and Wales attributable to current alcohol consumption. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2001, 55(6), 383-388.

Cabot, R.C. the relation of alcohol to arterioscleroisis, Journal of the American Medical Association, 1904, 43, 774-775.

Calcoya, M., et al. Alcohol and Stroke: a community case control study in Asturias, Spain. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 1999, 52, 577-684;

Camargo, C. A., et al. Prospective study of moderate alcohol consumption and mortality in US male physicians. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1997, 157, 79-85.

Camargo, C. A., et al. Moderate alcohol consumption and the risk for angina pectoris or myocardial infarction in U.S. male physicians. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1997, 126(5).

Coate, D. Moderate drinking and coronary heart disease mortality: evidence from NHANES I and NHANES I follow-up. American Journal of Public Health, 1993, 83(6), 888-890.

Dairdron, D. M. Cardiovascular effects of alcohol. Western Journal of Medicine, 1989, 151(4), 430-439.

Doll, R., et al. Mortality in relation to consumption of alcohol: 13 years observations on male British doctors. British Medical Journal, 1994, 309, 911-918.

Ellison, R. C. Does Moderate Alcohol Consumption Prolong Life? New York: American Council on Science and Health, 1993.

Farchi, G., et al. Alcohol and survival in the Italian rural cohorts of the Seven Countries Study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 2000, 29, 667-671.

Fuchs, C. S., et al. Alcohol consumption and mortality among women. The New England Journal of Medicine, 1995, 332(19), 1245-1250.

Gronbaek, M., et al. Type of alcohol consumed and mortality from all causes, coronary heart disease, and cancer. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2000, 133(6), 411-419.

Gronbaek, M., et al. Alcohol and mortality: is there a U-shaped relation in elderly people? Age and Aging, 1998, 27(6), 739-744.

Gronbaek, M., et al. Influence of sex, age, body mass index, and smoking on alcohol inytake and mortality, British Medical Journal, 1994, 308, 302-306.

Gronbaek, M., et al. Mortality associated with moderate intakes of wine, beer, or spirits, British Medical Journal, 1995, 310, 1165-1169.

Hennekens, C. H. Alcohol and Risk of Coronary Events. In: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol and the Cardiovascular System. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.

Hoffmeister, H., et al. The relationship between alcohol consumption, health indicators, and mortality in the German population. International Journal of Epidemiology, 1999, 28(6), 1066-1072.

Keil, U, et al. The relation of alcohol intake to coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality in a beer drinking population, Epidemiology, 1997, 8(2), 150-156.

Klatsky, A. Alcohol and mortality: a ten year Kaiser Permanente experience, Annals of Internal Medicine, 1981, 95, 139-145.

LaPorte, R. E., Cresanta, J. L., and Kuller, L. H. The relationship of alcohol consumption to atherosclerotic heart disease. Preventive Medicine, 1980, 9, 22-40;

McCallum, J., et al. The Dubbo Study of the Health of the Elderly 1988-2002: An Epidemiological Study of Hospital and Residential Care. 1998, 9, 184-188. Sydney, NSW, Australia: The Australian Health Policy Institute, 2003.

Maskarinec, G., et al. Alcohol intake, body weight, and mortality in a multiethnic prospective cohort. Epidemiology, 1998, 9(6), 654-661.

Moore, R. D., and Pearson, T. A. Moderate alcohol consumption and coronary artery disease. Medicine, 1986, 65, 242-267.

Perdue, L., and Shoemaker, W. The French Paradox and Beyond. Sonoma, CA: Renaissance Publishing, 1992.

Renaud, S., et al. Alcohol and mortality in middle-aged men from Eastern France, Epidemiology,

Rimm, E., et al. Prospective study of alcohol consumption and risk of coronary disease in men. The Lancet. 1991, 338, 464-468.

Rimm, E., et al. Prospective study of cigarette smoking, alcohol use and the risk of diabetes in men. British Medical Journal, 1995, 310, 555-559.

Rimm, E., et al. Moderate alcohol intake and lower risk of coronary heart disease: meta-analysis of effects on lipids and hemostatic factors. British Medical Journal, 1999, 319, 1523-1528.

Rodgers, H., et al. Alcohol and Stroke: a case control study of drinking habits past and present. Stroke, 1993, 12(10), 1473-1477.

Truelsen, T., et al. Intake of beer, wine and spirits and risk of Stroke: the Copenhagen city heart study. Stroke, 1998, 29(12), 2468-2472.

Wang, L. et al. Predictors of functional change: a longitudinal study of nondemented people aged 65 and older. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2002, 50(9), 1525-1534.

Willett, W. C. with the assistance of others. Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.

Yuan, J-M., et al. Follow up study of moderate alcohol intake and mortality among middle aged men in Shanghai, China. British Medical Journal, 1997, 314, 18-23.

 

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Nothing on this page constitutes medical opinion or advice. For medical diagnosis, opinion, advice or treatment consult a qualified physician.

1. Pearl, Raymond. Alcohol and Longevity. NY: Knopf, 1926. [Dr. Pearl was the first chair of the Department of Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University and founding editor of the journals Human Biology and Quarterly Review of Biology. Dr. Pearl’s research was largely ignored because it was published during National Prohibition, during which time the sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal.]

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