Alcohol Consumption Study is Questionable

A look at alcohol consumption collected from 8,600 heart patients over a 50-year period, as published in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Medicine, finds that alcohol consumption was down in recent years. Though, disorders associated with heavy drinking, such as cirrhosis of the liver or alcohol-related cardiomyopathy, was consistent across the age groups, as was the incidence of alcohol dependence. Some say that this represents a healthier trend in American drinking.

One problem with the study though is that it looked at a very specific population that is now in one particular age group. So it really says nothing about today’s adults under 50 years of age. To say that the long-term alcohol consumption is decreasing is a bit of a leap off of limited data.