Is that single glass of wine bad for you? For years, many have taken comfort in the notion that moderate drinking is benign, but a recent study published in the Lancet described the ill effects of alcohol consumption.
Perhaps most alarmingly for some, the study indicated that even very small amounts of alcohol still had some negative effects. The authors of the study called for greater alacrity in the fight against the evils of demon rum. This led to spirited debate among healthcare professionals in the comments.
The pushback began right away, with many finding problems with the implications of the study.
One professional started the wave:
Prohibition, here we go again. Regulating or taxing supply will only lead to home brewing and distilling and more binge drinking. Did we learn nothing from history?
Others found the study itself hysterical and alarmist. One pharmacist wrote:
It doesn't seem like enough of a cross-section to extrapolate this dramatic conclusion [that alcohol is the biggest health issue today]. What about clean water, adequate food supplies, and getting health practitioners and medical supplies everywhere they are needed? I think those are...the dominant health issues.
Another physician tried to sort through the data:
Those who actually bother to read the paper can see that the increase in risk moving from zero to one, or even two, drinks per day is
