What are the effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism?
Alcohol has a number of potential effects, some positive and some negative. Used respectfully and in moderation (one or two drinks per day), there is evidence of positive effects from alcohol consumption, including the following: • Promotes better health • Promotes longevity • Decreases risk of heart attack or stroke • Improves cholesterol levels, increasing good cholesterol and reducing bad cholesterol • Decreases likelihood of high blood pressure, peripheral artery disease, Alzheimers disease and catching cold virus • Reduces risk of type 2 diabetes for pre-menopausal women • Reducing incidence of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, kidney stones, stress, depression, poor memory, Parkinsons disease, hepatitis A, pancreatic cancer, macular degeneration, etc., etc. From this list one might consider that drinking is a good thing. However, all of the studies, emphasized that these results were observed only in moderate drinkers, with moderate being defined as one or two drinks per day, d
