Alcohol is Good for Your Brain 77
An anonymous reader writes "A new study reported on by Nature is saying that moderate consumption of alchohol wards off dementia. Better drink up!"
You know you've landed gear-up when it takes full power to taxi.
agreed (Score:3, Funny)
Re:agreed (Score:2, Funny)
Re:agreed (Score:2)
And (Score:4, Insightful)
Moderation is a very good idea.
Re:And (Score:1)
Dumbass.
Re:And (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, name ONE thing that doesn't have an adverse side effect in any way, especially if you exagerate your claims (alcohol is good for your liver... in moderation).
Re:And (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not a drinker. I don't even like alchohol as I can't stand the taste. They say it's an "acquired taste" that you have to learn to like. Well, I'm sure feces is the same way, but I don't want to acquire a taste for that, either.
However, it's ridiculous for you to bring up all of these things as if everyone who has a drink now and then is going to drink so much that they're going to damage their kidneys, liver and stomach - not to mention drive drunk and kill people.
Soda damages your organs, as do a wide variety of other daily consumables. The point is moderation. And as for addiction - well, if you have a history of it in your family, you probalby shouldn't drink. But to suggest that most people can't keep their hands off the bottle is just stupid. And suggesting that most people drive drunk is just stupid.
Really, your argument has nothing to do with this topic. The report didn't say "drink as much as you can, as often as you can - and drive around while you're doing it, too". It said an occasional drink. Maybe you're one of those recovering looney's that thinks just because they can't control themselves around a glass means that the rest of the world has the same problem and needs to give it up.
Re:And (Score:2)
I'm not a drinker. I don't even like alchohol as I can't stand the taste. Well, I'm sure feces is the same way, but I don't want to acquire a taste for that, either.
Ah, I've seen you have tried American beer.
*ducks*
I'm USian, so I can joke about our beer. And no, its not fucking close to water. Its close to piss, there is a difference. If it was close to water, I could still stand to drink it. :)
Re:And (Score:2)
Bah, we have plenty of good beer in the States, but it's usually beer brewed in smaller batches and is only available within a small region. Sometimes it is hit and miss with the microbreweriess, but some of them produce great beer.
We also have piss beer: Coors, Budweiser, etc.
Re:And (Score:2)
My kids tease me that I "always have a beer bottle in my hand". But... for 2-3 days, it will be the same bottle. In other words, I'll go through about 4-6 oz. of beer per day (and not every day either). I like the taste (it's local microbrew), but never feel driven to drink huge amounts.
OTOH, once I take a bite of chocolate, I end up pigging down candy all evening.
Re:And (Score:1)
Re:And (Score:2)
so is sundaes.
so is candy.
so is steaks.
so is..
but you don't get drunk from any of those so alcohol wins. at least you have fun while killing yourself.
And? Are not we GEEKS??? (Score:2)
Reminder -- you are not on the "Health Channel" (or whatever)...
Paul B.
this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:1)
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:1)
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:1)
Net result is more HP per unit weight of engine, with a lower total engine output. More effecient, but less power overall.
Or brain wise, more BrainPower per neuron, but fewer neurons working to do the things brains do.
PS: I want a 450 HP 4 banger that's street legal, emissions legal, and requires only
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:1)
Start with a vehicle of curb
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:1)
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:1)
I was merely pointing out that you would not recieve a better power-to-weight ratio which i think i have shown.
Thanks
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:1)
I didn't claim a CAR would bet a better HP/lb ratio.
Throw the same engine into a car and make no additional changes to the car, then the car won't see enough wegith reduction to get a better horsepower/weight ratio.
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:1)
As per your concept of engine efficiency improvement/modification/butchery only considering the engine.
A 600BHP V6 engine of weight 200kg (with two duff cylinders producing 75BHP each) The PWR of this engine is 3
Remove two faulty cylinders, approx 33% of engine weight, giving us a modified weight of 167kg. Now producing 450BHP The PWR is now 2.69
Now you can quote me on this
W
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:1)
450/134=3.36
I won't quote you though.
No, it isn't. (Score:2)
If you want to stick with the auto analogies, it would be more like saying an 18 wheeler will perform better with 17 tires than 18 tires, one of which is over inflated.
Re:this was explained on cheers long ago... (Score:2)
Suppose you have an engine with a burned valve. This means that on one cylinder there is little or no compression, and so that cylinder is just pulling in air/fuel and pushing it out unburned on each cycle, because good compression is required for ignition. In this case the cylinder is just dead weight: it contributes to frictional losses as the other cylinders have to move the piston up and down the cylinder against the
Related article (Score:1)
Re:Related article (Score:3, Informative)
Some wines contain tanins (acids) that are considered reasonably healthy, although I know some people have allergies to the tanins, and become itchy and red from drinking red wine.
Antioxidants are also present in some alcoholic beverages.
Moderation is incredibly important however.
Re:Related article (Score:1)
Healthwise, beer isn't too bad either, but personally I find it harder to stop drinking after 2-3 beers than after 2-3 glasses of wine.
What worries me is that today's teens don't seem to like beer or wine. Instead they drink premixes like Bacardi Breezer and Smirnoff Ice. The high sugar levels in such drinks gets the alcohol into the bloodstream much faster. The sugar also makes it t
This is horrible (Score:1)
remember the (Score:3, Funny)
Disturbingly easy to code while drunk... (Score:5, Funny)
you wouldn't be writing code while drunk, would you?
Actually, I've found it more than a little disturbing to learn just how easy it is to write code after a couple of glasses of wine. Or even a bottle.
Makes you realize that a monkey really could do this shit...
Re:Disturbingly easy to code while drunk... (Score:2, Funny)
For some reason, I do my best work that way.
(The green fairy codes me!)
Re:Disturbingly easy to code while drunk... (Score:2, Interesting)
It contains a chemical compound very similar to THC (the active component of marihuana), and it's been banned in Holland for a long long time, which is quite odd 'cause buying pot is legal here. Many believed it would make you crazy like hell. However, science could never back this statement, and now (thanks to new EU laws) it's available again since last year.
I like your choice in drinks. I'm not sure about the music though
On the subje
Re:Disturbingly easy to code while drunk... (Score:1)
And it frequently gets me quite 'out of the box', let me tell you... =P
Yes, yes I would (Score:5, Funny)
I guess I have a habit of doing this. I can't remember doing it, but I find a comment in my code that says: "//Fix Later, too drunk." every couple of months.
Re:Yes, yes I would (Score:1)
"fgasixx lahtyery;l/d mmmoree toioi dyrbriubknk"
The code looks even worse. Does anyone else have a serious problem typing after only a couple drinks? Or, is it just me?
Re:Yes, yes I would (Score:2)
After drinking several glasses of mead one night, I aparently got a really great idea that I wanted to code. I woke up the next morning and saw the IDE was open with a file displayed, so I compiled it.
It compiled perfectly, but did absolutely nothing and I couldn't figure out what the heck it was supposed to do. That's when I decided not to code after drinking =]
But the study is about women... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:But the study is about women... (Score:5, Funny)
I'll drink to that (Score:2)
I read that, and cracked into it.
Cheers!
Alcohol and Dementia... (Score:1)
At least near-term dementia.
Do I need to run it through a Brita filter? (Score:2)
Re:Do I need to run it through a Brita filter? (Score:2)
Now I finally have an excuse... (Score:1)
Obligatory Simpson's Quote (Score:2)
Marge:
Homer: Don't mind if I do!
It's true! (Score:4, Interesting)
The effects of alcohol on heart disease is also a myth. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the effect is from flavenoids, which are found in grapes and therefore found in wines.
It is certainly possible that there are chemicals which will block dementia. It depends on exactly what the underlying mechanisms are. For example, if an accumulation of some molecule XYZ is shown to be a cause, then all you need to do is find something that'll help eliminate it from the body.
For toxic levels of iron, for example, you'd probably use something like deferoxamine (DFO) which makes it possible to filter the excess iron out of the system.
Selenium, in high enough doses, is known to cause all sorts of neurological problems. Aluminium is suspected of doing the same. Mercury doesn't even need high doses. And these are just your basic elements. We're not even into the compounds.
One form of senile dementia - Alzheimer's Disease - is associated with the crushing of brain cells by the formation of a form of tau protein. Since proteins can't pass through the blood-brain barrier, it seems reasonable to suppose that the tau protein is manufactured by the brain itself.
This would seem to require two components - an instruction to produce this protein and something to cause that instruction to be carried out endlessly. Not a million miles from how cancers are a result of a cell replicating itself endlessly. Same infinite loop, different function call in the DNA.
There is considerable evidence that many cancers have an external component to trigger the infinite loop. It seems reasonable to deduce from this that other infinite loops are triggered the same way. A loop is a loop is a loop. It doesn't matter what's in it.
From this, we can also reasonably deduce that avoiding trigger chemicals and/or taking in something that'll prevent the body retaining or picking up those trigger chemicals would likely reduce your chances of getting dementias caused by this kind of process.
So far, so good. The first problem is that dementia covers a VERY wide range of conditions, few of which have been studied and even fewer understood. The second problem is that there isn't much good data on the environmental factors in dementia and the data that does exist (say for Aluminium) is so controversial that it is next to useless as a practical guide. Finally, the third problem is that even if you produce a list of suspects, there simply aren't any known ways of getting rid of many of them and more than a few of those are extremely toxic themselves, making them useless for a DIY remedy.
Level of alcohol that causes dementia (Score:2)
My experience with a family member and more recently with a friend suggests that alcohol consumption and related health and cognitive problems may be a be more of a problem than people let on. Is consumption of 10 ounces of vodka a day problematic? I observed this level of consumption in an 80 year old not long before that person had to enter
Re:Level of alcohol that causes dementia (Score:2)
Older people have all of the problems you highlighted, plus reduced organ function (which inhibits the body's ability to detect or deal with harmful chemicals), plus any build-ups of byproducts that the body retains.
Re:It's true! (Score:1)
Re:It's true! (Score:2)
One very important thing: (Score:3, Informative)
PS: Read a little bit more and you find out that the study was only done on a group of women (no men - just assumptions of equivalent or greater effect).
Re:One very important thing: (Score:2)
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/brain/a/blacer03 0 91 6_2.htm
a few
Poppycock! (Score:2)
Of course (Score:2)
the benefits of bing (Score:2)
Look what it did for Arthur Dent (Score:2)
I funno sbouy yhis (Score:1)
I uust dr4ank seven tshots of tequila and myf brain doens't feel asdny healthyier.
Alcohol good for you? (Score:2, Informative)
Thats around 1-3 drinks per day
But again earlier studies have shown that excess alcohol drinking can lead to the destruction of the liver or can be toxic to the brain (alcoholic dementia)
The new study showing that alcohol may fight Alzheimer's involved more than 5,000 people over the age of 55 and lasted for six years.
At the beginning of the study, none of the particip
Moderate Alcohol Drinkers Live Longer (Score:1)
I have not updated the book since I wrote it, but since its first publication, scores of well-conducted, peer-reviewed studies in the top scientific and medical publications have continued to conform the earlier evidence and -- like this one in Nature -- have found even more healthy results from moderate consumption.