AIBU To assume people tell fibs to their Dr about how much they drink?

[Diel]

I went to see my GP recently and he asked how much alcohol I drink, I was about to give my usual 14 units answer but decided to tell the truth and say about 3 bottles of wine a week. GP looked horrified and told me I absolutely must stop this. This isn't news to me as I know it's more that I should drink but he then asked if it's because I can't sleep, um, no, it's because I love wine. Anyhow, surely I'm not alone? Or do people just not admit to this vice?

These years of expert research for which you've been asked twice (thrice?) and not provided?

Interesting fact, I got that link by googling "alcohol consumption better than not drinking", trying to find your studies!

User, I am a scientist and I'm aware of the field. The criticism for years has been that the lumping in of 'everyone who doesn't drink' produces significant bias in the sample. Including large numbers of sick people forcexample. '
What's needed is a good, massive longitudinal study like the Framingham heart study, that follows people for decades. Even then you've got to be very careful with your confounding factors.
Research on how individual lifestyle factors is very difficult because it's so hard to tease out and compensate for other factors. Are our moderate drinkers enjoying health benefits caused by alcohol or are we just looking at a group with good self control ? Or more wealthy? Or enjoying a pattern of lifestyle choices? Correlation isn't always causation.
Smoking is one of the few really clear data signals - most other individual items are so hard to isolate.

Alcohol isn't very good for you. In moderate amounts it's not terrible, unless you're prone to anxiety, depression or addiction. No one wants to be a killjoy and stop people enjoying a couple of nice gins or even getting totally blotto once in a while - but people need the right data.

Even when other confounding factors are allowed, nay, encouraged to shack up and share a toothbrush with alcohol, I would still be absolutely fascinated to read through these studies that suggested that "drinking 2-3 times the limit" is better than not drinking alcohol at all. There's been a lot said about moderation being better than being tee-total, but the key word was always moderation.

User, could it be you're misremembering?

Enjoy the wine and ignore the moronic people who want your life to be a boring monochrome existence! I am 56 and can take it or leave it sometimes going all week without a drop but other times drinking more than you because no love wine as well. Just had a liver test and all is fine!

Sigh... it's not moronic to have the correct facts. Enjoy your wine, drink moderately, get smashed once in a while if you want. It's up to the individual- they have the right to do as they wish. But drinking constantly, multiple times the recommended limit probably isn't good for you.

LFTs usually are normal, by the way, until late in disease progression: the liver has great powers of regeneration

Alcohol isn't very good for you

Except when it is. Champagne, for example, can improve memory, has high levels of polyphenols that are good for your heart and lower blood pressure, as does red wine. Studies have shown that moderate drinkers live longer, and wine drinkers even have less common colds.
There is a plethora of quality science to show us that alcohol can be very very good for us, even (and sometimes especially) in amounts more than the current recommended limits.

But that doesn't fit the narrative, so you all ignore it. Fine, more for me!

btw, it also lowers your risk of dementia significantly, lowers your risk of diabetes, protects you from gallstones and reduce your risk of stroke'.

All in moderate quantities. But good moderate, not your half a glass twice a week moderate!

Alcohol , i.e. Ethanol, is not responsible for any of those effects. Compounds like resverstrol in red wine may have some positive effects.

Alcohol does not lower the risk of dementia- it increases it. Heavy drinking is strongly associated with dementia (Wernicke and Korsakoff syndrome for example.)

Every now and again you get media articles like 'champagne improves memory!' And they're the usual guff that passes for science reporting (a bugbear of mine..) it usually goes like 'researcher finds compound X does X in the lab, in cells.' Media realises X is found in champagne, this champagne is good for you!

The twisting by the media of some of our lab press statements was something to behold...

Alcohol does not lower the risk of dementia- it increases it

In heavy drinkers, not moderate.

You can keep repeating it all you like, but you've just swallowed the guff that passes for official advice.
It's bollocks. I'm not quoting media reporting of the science, I've read the actual science. You should try it, maybe over a glass of red.

Ok, show me (an actual scientist) a meta review (not one random never repeated paper in Latvian Gerbil Biology) that says moderate/'2-3tinrs the limits' drinking reduces the risk of dementia.

If you're an actual scientist you should know better to be asked to be spoon fed the research you want to see. But if you really can't find any of the myriad of studies, here's just one meta review:

Neafsey, E.J. Neuropsychiatric Diseases and Treatment, 2011; Volume 17: pages 465-484

"Over all, moderate drinkers were 23 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or signs of serious memory problems than nondrinkers"

There are many, many more. It's not a contraversial stance in anyway.

I got told to take a 'wee dram' by my midwife before smear tests as I have difficult ones. It's actually in my medical file and the GP grimaces everytime he reads it.

absolutely no set selection/confounding issues in that paper at al then ? ;)

It's just one paper. Seriously, if you're actually interested, read one of the other 50 that are easily available.
Ask any neurologist, they'll tell you that its been known for many years. It's not news to anyone with any experience in the area.