Have a Drink or Two

An interesting article from Wired about drinking alcohol, loneliness, physiological reactions, and cause and effect.

The effect first...

It’s one of those medical anomalies that nobody can really explain: studies have consistently shown that people who don’t consume any alcohol at all tend to die before people who do. At first glance, this makes little sense. Why would ingesting a psychoactive toxin that increases our risk of cancer, dementia and liver disease lengthen our life span?

Well, the anomaly has just gotten more anomalous: A new study found that abstaining from alcohol increases the risk of dying. But here’s the really weird data point: Heavy drinkers also live longer than abstainers. In other words, consuming disturbingly large amounts of alcohol seems to be better than drinking none at all...

Now a possible cause...

...According to the study, moderate drinkers have more friends and higher quality “friend support” than abstainers. They’re also more likely to be married.

What does this have to do with longevity? In recent years, sociologists and epidemiologists have begun studying the long-term effects of loneliness. It turns out to be really dangerous. We are social primates, and when we’re cut off from the social network, we are more likely to die from just about everything (but especially heart disease). At this point, the link between abstinence and social isolation is merely hypothetical. But given the extensive history of group drinking – it’s what we do when we come together – it seems likely that drinking in moderation makes it easier for us develop and nurture relationships. And it’s these relationships that help keep us alive.