What are we supposed to believe

Researches cannot get their stories strait.  One month something is good for us, the next month it will kills us.  We read 'studies' over and over and wonder how they come up with these strange results.  How is anyone suppose to trust any research these days?  We're told now that an hour after drinking even a small amount of alcohol, the risk of stroke increases.  Last month research told us that having a drink or glass of wine each evening would improve out health and decrease our risk or stroke and heart attack.  Only 390 patients were involved in this study.  

But even though your risk may rise over that short time, the researchers noted that moderate drinking over the long-term might actually reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.

Make up your mind!

"The risk of ischemic stroke may be transiently elevated in the two hours after drinking as little as one serving of beer, wine, or liquor," said lead researcher Elizabeth Mostofsky, a member of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

However, conclusive evidence about the association between alcohol consumption and the acute risk of stroke would require a long-term clinical trial, she added.

Well, duh!

"Nonetheless, these results suggest that there is an acute elevated risk of ischemic stroke that may be offset by the potential beneficial effects of long-term moderate alcohol consumption," Mostofsky said. But the findings may not apply to patients with severe stroke, she added.

Does this make sense to anyone or is it just gobbledygook?  Or perhaps the researchers is just searching for some big government grant with which to conduct this long-term clinical trial?  You can read it all at USA Today, but here's another excerpt:

For the study, published in the July 15 online edition of Stroke, Mostofsky's group interviewed 390 patients about three days after their stroke. Patients who could not speak or were too ill were excluded from the study.

In all, 14 patients had been drinking in the hour before their stroke, the researchers found.

"We found that compared with times when alcohol was not consumed, the relative risk of stroke after alcohol consumption was 2.3 times higher in the hour after drinking beer, wine or liquor," Mostofsky said.

"The relative risk was 1.6 in the second hour after drinking. By 24 hours, there was a 30% lower risk," she said.

This pattern remained regardless of the type of alcohol consumed or whether the patients had exercised before their stroke. Moreover, when the researchers excluded the one patient who had had more than two drinks, the pattern continued.

This finding may be due to the immediate effects of alcohol, which increases blood pressure and causes blood platelets to become stickier, perhaps increasing the risk of clotting, the authors noted.

What way you?  As for me, I'm going to go fix myself a nice, frosty, sugar-free Margarita.  Cheers!  If I live through it, I'll post something new soon.

Comments

[Snake Hunters]

I'll accept the risk; pour an ounce of apricot brandy for me, Debbie! - reb

[Grouch at Right Truth]

i'm gonna have my totty now, slurp!

[Trestin Meacham]

Lol Deb. I know how your feel. I'm glad my religion has dietary guidelines, because science changes it's mind more than John Kerry.

[williebill]

. My brother left and went to Canada twenty years ago, he read the sign which read "Drink Canada dry", He has not finished yet!
Its not a proven fact but, in our family We had a Drunk/Panhandler/Bum, who lived on the streets, or jail lived to over 80 only to get run over by a street car. So much for research. Have a great week. WB

[R.J. Godlewski]

Jane Curtain on Saturday Night Live said it best so many years ago:

White laboratory mice cause cancer. ;o)

[Debbie]

Snakehunter: Apricot Brandy sounds yummy.

Grouch: A green martini for you.

Trestin: You are certainly right about the changing warnings from science. One week coffee is so bad for you the next week drinking it saves your life. Just do what you want in moderation and live life.

WillieBil: You make a great point, we here stories all the time of people living into 90's, 100's, and most of them all enjoy some form of fat food, or alcohol, or smoke, whatever.

A lot has to do with your genes, history, etc.

R.J.: I think Jane Curtain may have been right.

You remember the tests with Saccharin -- The poor mice were fed enough Saccharin to fill a dinosaur, of course they had side affects from it.

[R.J. Godlewski]

Debbie,

You remember the Dateline episodes in the 1980s that allegedly proved how dangerous GM pickup trucks were? And then investigators working for GM found that NBC used model rocket engines to ignite the fires.

Same as with global warming. All the sensors are located near heat sources.

When science became the bedfellow of politics, it lost ALL credibility.

[Debbie]

I do remember that.

Some things never change.

[R.J. Godlewski]

How did I end up as "1". I'm straight! ;o)

[GoneWithTheWind]

A big part of the problem is that many of these observations are based on thin data from statistical studies. Often these conclusion jumpers don't even understand statistics and will make proclamations based on a statistical anomoly or simply on a result that is to minor to be significant. My favorite example was from some years back a person working on his doctorate concluded that something about the water or the food in Florida extended life expectancies. His conclusion was based solely on the statistical fact that at that time the percentage of older people in Florida was higher then any other state. His theory was deflated when someone pointed out that old people moved to Florida after they retired and his conclusion was based on a misinterpretation of the data.

[MK]

Much of these things are best left ignored otherwise you'll find that everything can kill you.

[Brian]

I think Samuel Clemens was quoted as saying that "There are lies, then there are damn lies, and finally statistics". Follow the dollar sponsor and you will understand the outcome. They won't print what the sponsor isn't looking for.

[Debbie]

R.J.: That's very strange, because when I got your comment notification is was correct. Just call you number "1"? heh

Gone With The Wind: I know what proper research is. I worked with the JFK Research Center, part of George Peabody College, now under Vanderbilt University. The Experimental School did research for children with developmental disabilities, down's syndrome, etc.

The rules and guidelines were very specific and very demanding. There are proper ways to obtain accurate data, and not every one follows those.

MK: Anything in excess can be bad, even water.

[Debbie]

Brian: Yes you are right, many "studies" or "research" is sponsored by companies that want a certain result, positive to their product.

This is so wrong.

[Jenny]

I do love my morning coffee, which they now say is extra-good for you. As to alcohol, I'm an unapologetic teetotaler.

[Snake Hunters]

snake hunter sez,

Debbie: I suppose everyone is addicted to something harmful. I begin smoking in 1937..I was a tender 12 yrs; Camels & Luckies were 10 cents a Pk (and now I pay Four Bucks)!

1946 - WWII was over; I drank myself into a stupor for a year..that damn near killed me!

2010 - Don't talk to me in the morning, until I've finished my 2nd coffee!

Now, at 85..I swear it's true..I've given up those...

Wild, wild women! - reb

[Debbie]

Snake Hunter: At 85 you've lived some life, but having to give up the 'wild, wild women' too, it's just too much to ask, ha.

Have a great day.

[Healthy Drinks Expert]

Very confusing indeed...

I personally believe that drinking a glass of wine or beer per day can be beneficial to your overall health. If nothing else, it helps relieve stress after a long day at work, and stress relief is certainly beneficial to your health.

The problem starts when people begin abusing alcohol to the point where it becomes unhealthy. There's a fine line to walk between healthy and unhealthy alcohol consumption.

[Markin Ambuh]

I believe in myself. This is the first thing before we believe in something else.

[Bi Sadong]

I believe I can achieve anything.

[Fatty Liver Diet Guide]

I absolutely agree. I don't know who to believe anymore. One minute this or that improves your health. The next minute it kills you. I guess live your life the way you want and don't worry about it. Half the time it causes more stress wondering if something's good or bad for you.

DJ