Who drinks, who doesn't/ and state why.

[RWH]

My point wasn't to debate the differing physiological effects of bacon and beer. It was simply to illustrate that there are a host of things in life that have zero positive effects yet we still allow them to happen without question. In terms of beer and bacon (my two favorite foods ), both substances can kill you if consumed unchecked and both of them can become a major problem if combined with certain pre-existing criteria (for example, a pre-disposition for addiction would be a particularly good reason not to drink--as would a family tree full of heart disease and high blood pressure for bacon).

One may also base there decision to consume (or not consume) based on their core values (the intrinsic values you refer to) which are socially constructed through adult guidance and peer interactions. These are extremely legitimate sources to construct values based on--and consequently are the same sources I use to base my differing set of core values. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the consumption of alcohol in my mind—just what is right or wrong for you. People make decisions based upon different experiences and values and that has to be respected.

It’s just too bad that so many people abuse substances…..it is definitely a problem in our country that isn’t about to disappear.

Personally, I will never allow myself to become dependent on any outside substance (with an asterisk to prescription drugs that I may require in my golden years ) and if I ever find myself in that position I will do what ever necessary to end it. Right now, I feel I have no dependency on alcohol—I can easily give up beer without any side effect aside from remorse (just like I would be remorseful if I had to give up bacon). But beer is good so lets not be hasty.

Cody

I too was not stating that to start a physiological debate. Rather throw it out on the table for the general consensus. (and in part defend bacon from being lumped in with beer, god knows we don't need a Mothers Against Bacon Eaters.) I agree wholeheartedly that peoples reasons need to be respected with the exception of when they let it get out of hand. i'd type more but i've gotta hit the door for work.

 

[James K]

I love a good cold one here and there. But alcohol is just like any other drug... too much will cause problems on many levels and can be abused very easily.

BINGO

 

[PierCed_3]

anyone else just want some Bacon? MMMMMM bacon! One good thing about bacon.. you can eat it while driving and you don't have to worry about DWI. It sure makes your fingers slippery though. The smell stays for hours too. mmmmm

 

[cruiseroutfit]

... god knows we don't need a Mothers Against Bacon Eaters...

I truly beleive we do. The plague of adolescent obesity if a far greater atrocity than our current trend of alcoholism.

A couple other quick thoughts on the subject of health/alcohol related deaths:

1. Experts agree, the world will end not when we run out of fuel/building resources, but rather when we run out of resources to feed our exponentially growing population. So why the need to save so many?

2. Why would I want to live past 70? Seems a rest home isn't the place for me.

thoughts

 

[Rickomatic]

I don't drink anymore. I stopped drinking when I woke up one morning in my car and my car was in a ditch. I don't even remember getting in it.

Any way I will add this as my final comment on the subject:
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." -- Henny Youngman

 

[Chiksic]

"Cirrhosis of the liver is an outcome of a variety of causes including alcohol consumption, exposure to various drugs and toxic chemicals, viral hepatitis, and other viral and infectious diseases (Dufour et al. 1993). Based on a literature review, it has been estimated that alcohol consumption is a major contributor in 41 to 95 percent of deaths from cirrhosis and the related condition of alcoholic hepatitis (Day 1977). Based on these percentages, in 1998 from 10,374 to 24,038 cirrhosis deaths may be attributed to excessive alcohol use."
"From 1970 through 1998, anywhere from 6 to 70 percent (depending on year and age group) of all cirrhosis deaths were coded as alcohol-related,
even though some researchers believe alcohol may contribute to up to 95 percent of all deaths from cirrhosis (Powell and Klatskin, 1968)."

http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Cirr98.pdf

Does that clarify a little?

Like I said, I'm not just talking about cirrhosis.

 

[Chiksic]

I was just talking with my uncle who is a doctor. Just so happens the topic of livers came up. He's working with a surgeon who performs gastric bypass and lap banding operations. Apparently, you have to move the liver out of the way when you do these operations (he was speaking in reference to gastric bypasses, so I'm not sure if it's the same for the less invasive lap banding process, but he does both). And in these obese people (75-100+lbs overweight) the liver can be 2.5 times as big as a normal liver, and when he'd go to move it it would break and cause bleeding and a big hassle sometimes because it's so full of glycogen. The point of my uncle's and my conversation was he's testing a theory on controlling diabetes in obese people which he's had great success with so far, but anyway, the liver conversation was interesting. Granted, it is an extreme situation, but the point remains. Your liver can be messed up by many things.

 

[Hickey]

You seriously don't know when to give up.

 

[James K]

I was just talking with my uncle who is a doctor. Just so happens the topic of livers came up. He's working with a surgeon who performs gastric bypass and lap banding operations. Apparently, you have to move the liver out of the way when you do these operations (he was speaking in reference to gastric bypasses, so I'm not sure if it's the same for the less invasive lap banding process, but he does both). And in these obese people (75-100+lbs overweight) the liver can be 2.5 times as big as a normal liver, and when he'd go to move it it would break and cause bleeding and a big hassle sometimes because it's so full of glycogen. The point of my uncle's and my conversation was he's testing a theory on controlling diabetes in obese people which he's had great success with so far, but anyway, the liver conversation was interesting. Granted, it is an extreme situation, but the point remains. Your liver can be messed up by many things.

interesting.

 

[PierCed_3]

I was just talking with my uncle who is a doctor. Just so happens the topic of livers came up. He's working with a surgeon who performs gastric bypass and lap banding operations. Apparently, you have to move the liver out of the way when you do these operations (he was speaking in reference to gastric bypasses, so I'm not sure if it's the same for the less invasive lap banding process, but he does both). And in these obese people (75-100+lbs overweight) the liver can be 2.5 times as big as a normal liver, and when he'd go to move it it would break and cause bleeding and a big hassle sometimes because it's so full of glycogen. The point of my uncle's and my conversation was he's testing a theory on controlling diabetes in obese people which he's had great success with so far, but anyway, the liver conversation was interesting. Granted, it is an extreme situation, but the point remains. Your liver can be messed up by many things.

Lap dancing operations???

 

[Chiksic]

Lap dancing operations???

it stands for lapendectomy, and I do realize I butchered that spelling. I don't know a whole lot about it, but they make a couple of insicions and use a camera to do the operation instead of opening you all the way up. It's where they band off a section of your stomach so you get the same results as a gastric bypass (where they remove part of your stomach and intestine), but it's not permanant and can be reversed. They fill the banded off portion with fluid and I'm not sure on the details, but I guess they can easily remove the fluid if you want to eat a lot again, like Thanksgiving or something and once the fluid is gone, you have more room in your stomach. And so that once you lose the weight you can go back to eating normal amounts of food. it prevents dealing with a lot of the crap gastric bypass patients have to go through like malnutritian and stuff.

 

[Chiksic]

You seriously don't know when to give up.

Not when I'm right.

 

[Hickey]

Keep living the fantasy. It will be interesting to see if your views change in the next 5 years.

 

[Chiksic]

I've never said alcohol was good for you. Hell yes it's bad for your system and it can hurt your liver severely if you overdo it. My only point is that there's a lot of stuff out there that's killing you too. It's not my opinion on that, it's medical facts.

 

[Hickey]

Didn't you already say that 3 times or so?

 

[Chiksic]

At least. Ya'll don't seem to be getting my point.

 

[Hickey]

Niether are you.

 

[Chiksic]

I'm not getting my point....

 

[PierCed_3]

Wasn't this about alcohol? Who drinks it and why?

 

[embabe]

Apparently it's turned into a search for why Chiksic doesn't understand the point of this thread...
PS> It's called laparascopic gastric banding. And, if you want to get into things that can cause damage to your body, I can boggle your mind with some of the stuff from my patho book. BUT Alcohol is definately in NO way good for your body. In fact, some of the byproducts produced during the metabolism of alcohol by the liver include formaldehyde... ... now I wouldn't want that in my body unless I were a cadaver in an anatomy lab somewhere.