Also finding that drinkers live longer than abstainers was not very relevant during Prohibition. The effect alcohol can have on breathing in older adults taking opioids is stark. In one small 2017 study, when participants were given 20 mg of oxycodone, the amount of air entering their lungs decreased by 28%. When participants also were given an infusion of alcohol, this decreased by another 19%.

General Health

• Fifty percent of patients with ascites typically die within two years if they don’t have a liver transplant.
• Good health among senior citizens can be attributed to a multitude of other lifestyle factors including diet, exercise and strong social relationships, The 90+ study reported.
• With higher consumption in older people, medication may be negatively affected by alcohol, and there is decreased physiological tolerance 34.
• But three experts who spoke with Men’s Health said the message needs to be reined in a little — and that the findings definitely don’t include binge drinking.

If alcohol is bad for us, then how do you explain the “French Paradox”—which claims the low rates of heart disease in French people (despite their fatty diet) are linked to their red Sober living house wine consumption? Or the long-lived people of Sardinia, who commonly drink a few glasses of wine a day? “The Sardinians get more sunlight, eat better food, move more than us—there are so many variables at play, alcohol can’t be pegged as the cause of their good health,” says Nicola. Long-lived chronic drinkers live longer despite their drinking habit, not because of it, Attia points out in his book Outlive. A possible beneficial effect of light-moderate alcohol intake on longevity (with inverted J-shaped dose-response on longevity) may also be related to hormesis 32, 33. With higher consumption in older people, medication may be negatively affected by alcohol, and there is decreased physiological tolerance 34.

Alcohol consumption in later life and reaching longevity: the Netherlands Cohort Study

People have been consuming fermented beverages for centuries while debating the advantages and disadvantages. Even now, the debate continues whether alcohol consumption is good for your health or bad. Though the study has not yet been published in a scientific journal, it triggered a spate of booze-praising why do alcoholics live so long headlines.

Alcoholic Beverages Reduce Inflammation

The data does suggest that moderate intake could potentially have beneficial effects on heart health. On the other hand, a moderate amount also appears to raise the risk of several cancers. Moderate drinkers, on the other hand, tend to have increased life spans. Even so, after taking into account the confounding factors, the researchers found that moderate drinker was still more likely to live longer than the abstainer or heavy drinker. However, the salutary effect of moderate drinking may be overestimated owing to confounding factors.

If a person drinks frequently or more heavily, the nerve cells in the brain adapt byreducing the number of places they can receive these messages. While end-stage alcoholism is a dire situation, it’s not a hopeless one. Late-stage alcoholics can get better if they seek treatment, and some of their health problems can even be reversed if caught early enough. Some chronic alcoholics develop a condition called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which results from a thiamine (vitamin B-1) deficiency.