BMJ Group blogs: BMJ » Blog Archive » Richard Lehman’s journal review – 6 December 2010

BMJ Group blogs: BMJ » Blog Archive » Richard Lehman’s journal review – 29 November 2010

BMJ Group blogs: BMJ » Blog Archive » Richard Lehman’s journal review – 22 November 2010

Sorry for the late links.  But better late than never.

As an enthusiastic regular drinker of wine, I am delighted to note the PRIME study which confirms that by doing so I halve my chance of myocardial infarction. I suppose I also increase my chance of pancreatitis, cancers of the GI tract and stroke. Perhaps liver disease too, though the literature is surprisingly obscure at levels of intake below about 100u/week. The thing not to do is binge drink, which is a common pattern in Northern Ireland, and probably increases your baseline risk of MI. I think the further north you travel, the more dysfunctional alcohol use becomes, as warm oblivion becomes ever more desirable. As if to illustrate this point, a review of frostbite finds that nearly half of it is associated with alcohol use. I bet that means vodka or whisky in most cases, and wine alone hardly ever.