Do heavy drinkers outlive nondrinkers?

Question

This claim has all the hallmarks of a made up story (too good to be true, against common wisdom, etc.), but is being spread around social media and appears on TIme, who sources it to a scientific paper.

But even after controlling for nearly all imaginable variables — socioeconomic status, level of physical activity, number of close friends, quality of social support and so on — the researchers (a six-member team led by psychologist Charles Holahan of the University of Texas at Austin) found that over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who were not current drinkers, regardless of whether they used to be alcoholics, second highest for heavy drinkers and lowest for moderate drinkers.

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2017200,00.html

Is this study reliable? Can we say, scientifically, that heavy drinking on average predicts longer life or is the study being misinterpreted for sentationalism? Or is it simply an unreliable study?

Answer 1

Per Kenneth Anderson MA, "Heavy drinkers outlive abstainers because heavy drinking is defined wrongly by the definitions of heavy drinking used in Charles J. Holahan et al. study in 2010 which were far more liberal definitions of moderation and heavy drinking since the cut off level between moderate and heavy drinking in the Holahan study was 3 times greater than the U.S. government definition of the cut off level for women, and one and a half times greater than that for men." Also another study by Ulrich John et.al. in 2013 found that in DSM IV alcoholics "annualized death rates were 4.6-fold higher for women and 1.9-fold higher for men compared to the age- and sex-specific general population" which meant people who met the DSM IV criteria for Alcohol Dependence had lifespans an average of 20 years shorter than those who did not. Alcoholism treatment also had no apparent protective effect in preventing premature death. Per Richard G. Rogers et.al.'s study in 2013 "nondrinkers include several different groups that have unique mortality risks."

Per UNC, "the risk for coronary heart disease even for heavy drinkers remains below the baseline; but risk of death from other causes goes up. The risk of death from liver disease skyrockets off the chart after only a couple of drinks a day."

Per G. Testino et.al. in 2014, "it is ethically inconceivable not to condemn the consumption of a carcinogenic substance and even moderate alcohol drinking is harmful since alcohol was found to cause more harm than good per points mentioned below."

1. Alcohol consumption is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), ethanol in alcoholic beverages is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) and acetaldehyde associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages, is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) per the International Agency for cancer Research (IARC – WHO). Alcohol consumption (and not abuse) is associated with increased risks of the following cancer types: oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, upper aerodigestive tract, colorectum, liver and female breast

2. In Australia, the National Heart Foundation explicitly advises against the consumption of red wine and other types of alcoholic drinks for the prevention or treatment of heart diseases.

3. In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) affirmed that from both the public health and clinical viewpoints, there is no merit in promoting alcohol consumption as a preventive strategy.

4. In 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated a greater reduction in death from ischaemic heart disease could be obtained by being physically active and eating a healthier diet than by drinking a low dose of alcohol.

5. It is mandatory to remind that alcoholic beverages consumption (without abuse) favours the development of about 60 different diseases, and that one unit of alcohol a day (about 12 grams of ethanol) significantly increases the risk of hypertension and dysrhythmias.