Science?

October 22nd, 2022| Topic: RaMbLeS | 2

Your liver gets fried, they told us. Your brain cells are slaughtered, they reminded us. And so and so forth. The evil agent in question? Alcohol. And there’s scientific evidence for all that. And more.

But now this: “The Relationship Between Alcohol Use and Dementia in Adults Aged More Than 60 Years: A Combined Analysis of Prospective, Individual-Participant Data from 15 International Studies,” published a few months ago in Addiction, by scientists from several continents. This metanalytical work looked at fifteen existing international studies, corralling a total of about 25,000 people, comparing abstainers and drinkers and tracing any resulting dementia down the line.

When compared with abstainers, the risk for dementia was lower in occasional, light–moderate, and moderate–heavy drinkers.”

They defined occasional alcohol use as <1.3 g/day, light–moderate alcohol use as 1.3–24.9 g/day, moderate–heavy alcohol use as 25–44.9 g/day, and heavy alcohol use as > 45 g/day of the stuff.

The authors concluded:

The increased risk associated with abstaining was evident in subsamples of both males and females, as well as in both former drinkers and life-time abstainers. Abstinence from alcohol appears to be associated with an increased risk for all-cause dementia. Among current drinkers, there appears to be no consistent evidence to suggest that the amount of alcohol consumed in later life is associated with dementia risk.”

Golly!

I wonder what they’ll find tomorrow. Sometimes you don’t know what to believe. One day you believe one thing and abstain. Another day you believe something like this and resume imbibing. One way or another, you die! That’s the long and short of it.

I have no perspicacious comment to make about the yo-yo bounce between benefits and demerits of alcohol consumption. But this I know: one way or another I will die. And so will you.

It is appointed for persons to die once …
Hebrews 9:27a

[This is my Halloween Special morbid blog!]

Abstain and you die. Drink and you die. Go vegan, you die. Be a glutton, you die. Exercise and you die. Become a couch potato, you die. There’s no two ways about this. Death ain’t an option.

But what follows is!

… and after this, judgment.
Hebrews 9:27b

Not that we have an option about God’s judging activity, but we do have a choice that determines how that activity turns out: positive or negative.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23

And:

The wages of sin is death ….
Romans 6:23a

Eternal death. Away from the presence of a holy God who cannot even look upon sin.

But God had a “problem,” if you will: his love. For you and me and everyone. But, no, that love couldn’t just write off the sin as a bad divine investment loss. Because of another “problem”: his justice.

But in a supernatural stroke of love and justice God solved all his problems. And ours.

… the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23b

But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

And Jesus said:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

Eternal life, not eternal death. By believing, having faith in, placing your trust in, Jesus Christ as your only God and Savior.

That, folks, is the only good news. And that, y’all, we can believe, without hesitation, without doubt.

SOURCE:
Addiction