New Study Finds Drinkers Live Longer Than People Who Don't Drink

Have you heard the joke about people who don't drink? They don't actually live longer, it just feels that way.

It turns out the joke may not be so funny after all. A recent study suggests that heavy drinkers live longer than non-drinkers, and moderate drinkers outlive both heavy drinkers and teetotalers.

A University of Texas study to be published in "Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research" found that heavy drinkers had a 42 per cent higher risk of dying than moderate drinkers. In a surprising twist, the scientists, who followed 1,824 middle-aged people over 20 years, found that people in their study who drank no alcohol at all had a 49 per cent greater chance of dying than those who consumed one or two drinks a day.

Maybe hard-living country singer Willie Nelson was onto something when he said, "There are more old drunks than there are old doctors?"

Or maybe not.

While there could be plausible reasons why heavy drinkers - prime candidates for liver damage from cirrhosis and other health problems linked to heavy drinking - live longer than non-drinkers, the study may have been flawed. Many middle-aged non-drinkers are former heavy drinkers who became teetotalers after going through abstinence programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. A high percentage of these formerly heavy drinkers could have other unhealthy addictions, such as smoking-a habit commonly linked to shorter life spans. In some cases, former heavy drinkers may have suffered liver damage before they stopped drinking. Although they were classified as non-drinkers for the study, their health could have already been compromised.

This theory is supported by a press release from the University of Texas summarizing the research. "Compared to moderate drinkers, abstainers in the study sample included many former problem drinkers and individuals with more health problems and health risk factors (such as lower physical activity and more cigarette smoking) compared to moderate drinkers," the press release said.

Flawed or not, the study's findings on heavy drinkers could have some merit. One of the positive aspects of drinking alcohol is that it makes people more social, a quality that is linked to better emotional and physical health. Although sloppy drunks are not much fun to be around, some heavy drinkers suffer from suffocating shyness that would make them reclusive if they did not get "courage in a bottle" to socialize with others.

Still, you have to wonder who funded this study - Jim Beam?

Sources:
www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2014332,00.html
www.utexas.edu/news/2010/08/27/psychology_drinking/