Alcohol

Alcohol consumption – 80,000 yearly deaths in the Americas

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Alcohol consumption is the direct cause of nearly 80,000 deaths in the Americas each year, according to a new study.

Published in the journal Addiction, the study analyzed yearly mortality rates from 16 countries in North and Latin America. The researchers focused on deaths that were specifically attributed to alcohol, meaning death would not have occurred without some form of alcohol consumption.

“Our purpose was to obtain more detailed information about alcohol mortality from countries in the region,” study co-author Dr. Maristela Monteiro, senior advisor on alcohol and substance abuse for the Pan American Health Organization, told FoxNews.com. “There are statistics from all these countries, but very few regions have specific alcohol mortality data, meaning [the information] we used usually is not reported or not collected.”

After combing through each country’s death statistics, Monteiro and her co-author Dr. Vilma Gawryszewski found that, between 2007 and 2009, alcohol was a ‘necessary’ cause of death for an average of 79,456 cases each year in North and South America. The researchers found that the biggest causes of these deaths included liver disease and alcohol poisoning.

“One important thing we knew from the medical literature but we also found in our data is that alcohol consumption is a cause of premature mortality,” Gawryszewski said. “The highest rates are among people in early age [dying before] the life expectancy in their countries.”

The countries with the highest rates of alcohol-related deaths were mostly in Central America, including El Salvador (27.4 out of 100,000 deaths each year), Guatemala (22.3 out of 100,000) and Nicaragua (21.3 out of 100,000).

Overall, men accounted for 84 percent of alcohol-necessary deaths, though the male-to-female ratio varied from country to country. In El Salvador, the risk of a man dying from an alcohol-necessary cause was 27.8 times higher than that of a woman, while in the United States and Canada, the risk was 3.2 times higher.

There were also differences in age groups for alcohol mortality between countries. In Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica and the U.S., the highest mortality rates occurred in individuals between 50 and 69 years of age. In Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela, the highest mortality rates were seen in individuals between 40 and 49 years of age.

While these statistics may seem concerning on their own, Monteiro and Gawryszewski maintain their findings reveal that the overconsumption of alcohol is an even bigger issue than previously thought.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Monteiro said. “Of course there are many more alcohol-related deaths from injuries, traffic accidents, violence, and also chronic conditions – where alcohol has a role but is not the only cause. But the data does not cover that. We’re only getting the most severe cases.”

With this in mind, the researchers argue that more needs to be done to control the amount of alcohol individuals consume in North and South America.

“We know how to reduce mortality – with population-based policies, controlling availability and increasing price,” Monteiro said. “We need to prevent people from getting to that stage where you have alcohol dependence or you die.”

Source: Fox news

7 Foods that make you stink

Blamed on everything from genes, to cheap perfume, even occupation, or the type of food you ate, body odour can be crowned as the single biggest turning off factor in social interactions.

Some experts might blame it on the excessive use of deodorants and some might blame it on the biological composition of your body, but many unanimously agree that some specific types of food items can lead to body odour. Zoom in on our list of top 7 foods that cause body odour and consume them in moderation if you are a regular victim of this disorder.

Spicy food
A spice overload can lead to excessive sulfur in your food intake, which will be eliminated through skin’s pores and breath. Ensure that you eat well-balanced meals that aren’t too heavy on garlic, onions or piping hot curries.

Red meat
Red meat requires maximum digestion effort for your body to process. Over-eating will lead to issues liker perspiration and unwanted sweat. While vegetarians might not have such issues with their limited food intake, fenugreek and other strong flavoured plants cause similar results.

Alcohol
Chocolate, soda, tea, coffee, alcohol – consuming any of these in excess causes body odour as when you drink them atleast 10% of it will be left unprocessed causing perspiration. Excessive alcohol, in particular, may cause body odour.

Junk foods
Excessive consumption of junk foods with next to no exercise routine, will lead to accumulation of fatty cells inside your body which is the chief reason behind sweating and BO. They lead to unwanted breath and body odour as the food takes longer than their healthier counterparts to get digested. Foods high in hydrogenated oil, sugar, flour, salt and so on are not good when consumed in excess.

Low carbs
A diet which does not contain carbs can lead to a greater release of sweat in the body and also excess of protein foods. This process leads to a release of chemical called ketones in your bloodstream which lead to unwanted smell.

Dairy products
Again, dairy products are rich in protein and high consumption of these food items will take longer for your stomach to digest them. Excess consumption of dairy products can lead to release of hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan in the body which can easily trigger off a foul smell.

Tobacco
We all know it. When the smoke of cigarettes mingles with other sweat glands in the body it’ll lead to a release of a distinctive smell which leads to a specific ‘smoker’ smell that lingers on everything from clothing to hair.

Source: Times of India

Want to live longer? Follow these tips

Physical activity and exercise, which is the key to healthy living, prevents the building up of visceral adipose tissue (the dangerous tummy fat that causes arterial inflammation and hypertension). Research has shown that exercising for just 20 minutes a day can add around two years to your life.

Water: Remember our bodies are 80% of water. So drink plenty of water – the elixir of life. It also helps remove toxins and wastes from your body. Drink at least 2 – 3 litres of water if you want to live longer.

Make good friends: People who have good friends and have strong relationships with their families are believed to be healthier mentally as well as physically than those who cut themselves off from people and are reclusive.

Laugh out: Researchers at the University of Maryland reported that watching 15 minutes of a funny video can improve blood flow to your heart by 50%, which may reduce blood-clot formation, cholesterol deposition and inflammation. Our ancestors were not wrong when they said that laughter is a great medicine. People that tend to laugh 20 minutes a day are less prone to diseases and depressions.

A glass of wine: Research has shown that taking alcohol in moderation is good for your health. It is believed consuming one alcoholic drink per day can add +0.9 years to your life. Moderate intake of alcohol can be beneficial to reducing or even preventing some diseases and health problems.

Source: Wat’s up

Alcohol does not cause depression: Study

Researchers also debunk the view that mild to moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of depression.

Contrary to popular belief, alcohol does not cause depression, Australian scientists have found.

Until now it was believed that alcohol caused people to become depressed, particularly if consumed at excessive levels, according to Professor Osvaldo Almeida, from The University of Western Australia.

“Even one of the diagnoses we have for depressive disorders – Substance Induced Mood Disorder – is a diagnosis where alcohol plays a role,” Almeida said.

“However, because of the observational nature of the association between alcohol and depression, and the risk of confounding and bias that comes with observational studies, it is difficult to be entirely certain that the relationship is causal.

“For example, people who drink too much may also smoke, have poor diets and other diseases that could explain the excess number of people with depression among heavy drinkers,” he said.

Almeida and fellow researchers with the Health in Men Study (HIMS), including 12,201 men aged 65-83 when recruited in 1996, decided to search for a causal link via physiological pathways instead: specifically the genetic polymorphism, or mutation, most closely associated with alcohol metabolism.

“We now know that certain genetic variations affect the amount of alcohol people consume. There is one particular genetic variation that affects the enzyme responsible for the metabolism of alcohol,” Almeida said.

“This variation produces an enzyme that is up to 80 times less competent at breaking down alcohol. Consequently, people who carry this variation are much less tolerant to alcohol. In fact, there is now evidence that alcohol-related disorders are very uncommon in this group.

“Now, if alcohol causes depression, then a genetic variation that reduces alcohol use and alcohol-related disorders, should reduce the risk of depression.

“The great advantage of looking at the gene is that this association is not confounded by any other factors – people are born like that,” he said.

The researchers analysed the triangular association between the genetic mutation, alcohol and depression in 3,873 elderly male participants of the study, using data collected over three to eight years.

“We found (as expected) that this particular genetic variant was associated with reduced alcohol use, but it had no association with depression whatsoever,” Almeida said.

“The conclusion is that alcohol use neither causes nor prevents depression in older men. Our results also debunk the view that mild to moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of depression,” he added.