Alcohol: Are the Benefits Worth the Risks?

Alcohol: Are the Benefits Worth the Rfsks?

Number15 ADrii 13,1981

Old Western movies give a lot of peo- While some Americans think alcohol ple the idea that Americans are as ad- is inherently evil, most of us, whether dicted to alcohol as they are to ice we drink or not, find nothing wrong cream. Americans do in fact drink a lot with moderate drinking. But there are of alcohol. In 1977, Americans drank no rigid definitions of heavy, light, or about 2.2 gallons per capita of alcohol. moderate dnnkmg. For some people That figure represents the total amount moderate drinking might be a glass of of alcohol contained in all beer, wine, wine or a couple of beers a day. For and spirits that were consumed per capi- others that may be too much. An ap- ta. But other countries have comparable proximation of hea~ drinking would be approximate drinking rates: France, more than four or five drinks daily. All 4.3 gallons; Spain, 3.5; the Federal Re- this is relative because the response to public of Germany, 3.3; the German any drug may vary with body weight or Democratic Republic, 2.2; and En- other factors. gland, 2.2. The US actually ranks about Many people may not know that twentieth among nations in per capita moderate drinking is possibly bene- consumption of alcohol. 1 ficial. Some recent studies suggest that Alcoholic beverages are very big busi- alcohol, taken in moderation, may ness. In 1980, US producers alone lower the risk of heart attack. Some ex- shipped to stores about $9 billion worth perts on alcohol and alcoholism fear this of beer, $2 billion worth of wine, and $3 news may encourage even more excess billion of spirits.z (p. 382-7) drinking. The possible benefits of drink- Attitudes toward drinking vary from ing do need further study and clafilca- nation to nation. In the US, our attitude tion. Before we review the possible is ambivalent. Alcoholic drinks are benefits of moderate drinking, we readily available in most parts of the should keep in mind the harmful effects country. A few states, such as Kentucky of alcohol. and Tennessee, have areas where the Researchers have not agreed on cnte- sale and consumption of alcohol is pro- na for diagnosing alcoholism, so no- hibited or liiited, according to the body is sure how many alcoholics there Distilled Spirits Councif of the US.S are. Most investigators agree that symp- (p. 48) During Prohibition drinking toms include heavy drinking for a alcohol was illegal in the US, but its period over three months or so, inability consumption continued and a genera- to stop drinking once one has started, tion of bootleggers was spawned. I and alcohol-related job, family, or legal know because a member of my own problems, as well as some of the health family was one of them. “Bootlegging,” problems listed below. Nobody is sure literally, means the act of smuggling il- what causes alcoholism. Theories em- licit goods by hiding them in the leg of brace biochemical, psychological, envi- one’s boot. o ronmental, and even genetic factors. 5

75 As thk essay was being prepared, the of heavy drinking is probably enough to Department of Health & Human Ser- induce cirrhosis. High intake may also vices (HHS) was about to publish its lead to pancreatitis.lo. 1I Fourth Special Report on A[cohol and In addition to all these problems, it is Health. Highlights were recently sum- not generally known that alcohol may marized in an HHS publication called cause a number of skin problems. Scien- ADAMHA News (Alcohol, Drug Abuse tists Mark Rosset and G. Oki studied & Mental Health Administration).c It 355 alcoholics for over a two year noted that alcoholics have a mortality period. The investigators observed over rate two and a half times greater than 30 different skin conditions, including that of nonalcoholics. The ill effects of acne, eczema, psoriasis, and seborrhea. alcohol overuse on the cardiovascular Of the 307 men in that group, 44 per- system include high blood pressure and cent had one or more skin condition. a rare heart muscle disease, cardiom y- Skin problems were observed in 33.3 opathy. percent of the 48 women. But it is un- The HHS report also reiterates the certain whether their skin problems can well-known notion that alcoholism kills be correlated with alcoholism.lz brain cells. But it notes that brain Apparently, however, you don’t need damage from alcohol abuse may not be to be an alcoholic to have skin reactions irreversible, as had been previously to alcoholic drinks. In 1976 two scien- thought. The report discusses what is tists wrote from Helsinki about three probably the greatest cause of alcohol- cases of urticaria, an allergic reaction related deaths: drunken driving. It says characterized by wheals or itching. that between 35 and 64 percent of Each of the victims’ urticana was attri- drivers in fatal traffic accidents had buted to drinking wine. Two cases were been drinking. It also says that 45 to 60 deemed to be caused by yeasts in the percent of fatal crashes involving young wine. The third case was attributed to drivers are alcohol-related. Free copies the alcohol itself.lJ of the HHS report are available from the Most people are well aware of most of National Clearinghouse on Alcohol In- the negative effects of alcohol abuse. formation, P.O. Box 2345, Rockville, Some were surprised to hear recently Maryland 20852. that alcohol may be beneficial. Howev- Researchers have also identified a er, people have for centuries believed in condition called fetal alcohol syndrome the beneficial effects of alcohol. My (FAS). This means that a woman’s grandfather drank a shot of whkkey drinking during pregnancy may give her every night at bedtime. He lived to 85. child facial, cranial, or cardiac abnor- He even made his own wine in the bath- malities, as weU as impaired growth, tub! My close friend, the late Chauncey mental retardation, and behavioral Leake, coauthored a book on alcohol problems.T The incidence of FAS is not and medicine.ld In another work he known. Nor is it known how much alco- noted that ancient Egyptian papyrus hol a pregnant woman can safely drink. writings mention wine and beer as medi- However, since alcoholic women tend tines.ls (p. 42, 73) Chauncey wrote: to marry alcoholic men, another factor increases the possibility that a deformed Wines are relatively beneficial medic- child will be born. High consumption of inal agents in a wide variety of condl- alcohol can affect sperm production.8 tions encountered in geriatric prac- Heavy drinkers are also at risk for tice. In addhion to fluids and alcohol, wines furnish minerals, vitamins, prm several types of cancer, including can- teins, aldehydes, ketones, esters, cers of the larynx, pharynx, and esopha- organic acids, tannins, sugars, and gus. Of course, smoking complicates pectins. They act as stimulants to ap- the role of alcohol in cancer.g petite, stomachics, tonics, tranquiliz- The liver is the most vulnerable organ ers, vasodilators, astringent antisep- when exposed to alcohol. A year or two tics, disphoretics, and diuretics. 16

76 In a 1963 book called A History of Wine than lifetime nondrinkers. Ex-drinkers as Therapy, physician Salvatore P. had the highest rate of heart attacks. Lucia notes that wine was afso used as (Heavy drinkers were not studied.) Beer medicine in ancient India, China, accounted for two-thirds of the alcohol Greece, and Rome. 17(p. 216-7) consumed by the subjects.zT One bit of folk wisdom is that alcohol In November of 1979, Charles H. cures colds or flu, There isn’t much Hennekens and associates at Hamard scientific support for this belief. IS In and Boston Universities also demon- 1976 and 1978, Jack Konowalchuk and strated that moderate drinkers suffered Joan I. Speirs of Canada’s Bureau of Mi- less heart disease than teetotalers or crobial Hazards in Ontario reported that heavy drinkers. They based the results wine, grape juice, and extract of grape on a study of 568 married men who died skin inactivated some flu viruses in solu- of heart attacks, and a comparable con- tion. 19,Z0 The finding for grape juice trol group. Hennekens’ team reported was confined by Cliver and Kosten- in the Journal of the American Medical bader at the University of Wisconsin.zl Association that the risk was lowered However, there is no evidence that in- equally whether beer, wine, or spirits gestion of wine, juices, or grapes will were used.~ cure the flu. 19-21 However, at least one study suggests Alcohol was often an ingredient in the that the type of beverage consumed patent medicines of the 19th and early does make a difference. In May of 1979, 20th centuries. The therapeutic value of A.S. St. Leger and colleagues at the those medicines is greatly in doubt, of UKS Medical Research Council (MRC) course.~ But today, as always, some studied death rates for heart disease in physicians believe alcohol has a place in 18 industrialized countries. These coun- medicine. It has been used successfully tries included the US, the UK, 11 Euro- in mixtures to ease the pain of can- pean nations, Australia, and New Zea- cer.~j~ land. The MRC investigators reported Probably the most widely publicized in Lancet, “a strong and specific benefits of alcohol concern its effects on negative association between ischaemic cardiovascular disease. In 1974, Arthur heart-dkease (II-ID) death and alcohol L. Klatsky and co-workers at the consumption.” They concluded that this Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in was wholly the result of wine consump- Oakland, California, studied 464 people tion. The MRC scientists hypothesized who had had one heart attack .25 There that if wine protects against heart were more alcohol abstainers in the disease, the protective factor is prob- group than there were drinkers. One ex- ably not alcohol, but aromatic com- planation for the higher heart attack pounds or other trace elements in the rate among abstainers may be a “protec- wine. The authors quipped: “If wine is tive effect” of alcohol. ever found to contain a constituent pro- (People who abstain from alcohol, by tective against ischaemic heart disease, the way, are sometimes called “teetotal- then we consider it ahnost a sacrilege ers.” The word sprang up in the 1830s. that th~ constituent should be isolated. According to the Oxford English Dic- The medicine is afready in a highly pal- tionary, the word descends from a slang atable form . . ..“29 phrase of the era, “T for total.’’)zb (Of course, it is possible to enjoy wine Other recent studies suggest that without drinking much alcohol. Some moderate alcohol drinking lessens the California wineries, such as Villa Bian- chance of a heart attack. In 1977, Kat- chi and San Martin Winery, both of Los suhiko Yano and colleagues studied Angeles, sell wines with about five per- ahnost 8,000 Japanese men living in cent alcohol content, as compared to Hawaii. They reported in the New En- the 11 to 14 percent in most California g[and Journal of Medicine that moder- wines.~ And the V]e-Del Company of ate drinkers had fewer heart attacks Fresno, California, sefls dealcoholized

77 wine flavorings for gourmet cooks. )sl Most studies on drinking and heart at- The St. Leger study prompted several tacks consider overall consumption of letters to the editor of Lancet. Two alcohol. But a recent study by Harvey authors noted that the low IHD risk may W. Gruchow and colleagues, Medical be attributable to the consumption of College of Wisconsin, considered drink- garlic. Apparently in countries where a ing habits apart from average consump- lot of wine is drunk, a lot of garlic is tion. Gruchow’s group studied 225 men eaten also. Garlic may protect against whose overall consumption was moder- atherosclerotic risk factors.Wm Anoth- ate. Most of those men were “binge” er correspondent said the reason for the drinkers. Gruchow defined “binge” findings may be that wine drinkers con- drinkers as those who, every once in sume less milk and fewer milk prod- awhile, drank much more than usual. ucts.3’4 The men went on binges less often than Another study reported in Lancet, in once a week. Gruchow’s study found May 1980, tried to show the relationship that binge drinkers had a higher rate of between alcohol, heart attacks, and heart disease than those men who drank some other factors.qs The Yugoslavian at a moderate and steady rate.3T Cardiovascular Disease Study was con- These intriguing new findings raise ducted by scientists from Yugoslavia’s the question of how moderate alcohol Institute of Chronic Diseases & Geron- intake seems to protect against heart at- tology and the US National Institutes of tacks. One hypothesis concerns one’s Health. The scientists examined 11,000 blood level of high-density lipoprotein Yugoslav men over a period of seven (HDL), which removes cholesterol from years, The beverages studied were beer, the walls of coronary arteries. High wine, and rakija, which is a general HDL levels protect against heart dis- Serbo-Croatian term for other alcoholic ease, and are also positively associated drinks. The researchers said they could with alcohol consumption .3s.3’J only estimate alcohol consumption. But Another theory is that alcohol may af- consumption of alcohol in any amount fect the formation of a prostaglandin “seemed to be inversely related to inci- that in turn affects the aggregation of dence of coronary heart-disease mor- platelets.@ Yet another possibility is bidity and mortality, but not to risk of that moderate drinking reduces psycho- dying.” Men who had less than one logical stress, and thus the risk of heart drink a day had a higher heart attack disease .41 rate than those who had a daily drink. Of course, these epidemiological But men who had more than three or studies aren’t designed to tell individuals four drinks a day had a higher rate of if moderate drinking is harmful for them stroke death. Thk was not the case for in particular. While two or three drinks heavy consumers of beer, however; for may be moderate for one person, they them, the stroke death rate was slightly may be too much for the next. In a ~our- lower. nal of the American Medical Associa- Drinking seemed to have another tion editorial, W.P. Castelli, National drawback. People who drank daily also Heart Institute, expressed a fear shared had a higher death rate from accidents by many observers: “It may be danger- or Violence. qs In light of the Yugoslav ous to tell some people to take two study, it’s interesting to consider the drinks a day when, given their constitu- 1972 strike that closed Finnish liquor tional makeup, one could fairly predict stores for six weeks. Alcohol consump- they could not stop at two ... . With tion decreased by about haff, cases of [millions of] alcoholics in this country assault and battery went down 20 to 25 we perhaps have a message for which percent, and cases of drunken driving this country is not ready. ‘“Q were down 10 to 15 percent. Home pro- Most doctors agree with Castelli that duction of alcohol went up, though.sb it is premature to recommend alcohol as

78 a heart attack preventive.AJ Some peo- fornia group that encourages scienttlc ple have greeted the new studies as good research on wine exclusively, as well as news. It’s hard to blame the public for the proper use of that beverage. Its feeling that way, since it hears so much monthly Btdletin offers a forum for about the dangers of this food or that news and opinions about wine. Copies drug. However, for some people, any are available free to interested physi- alcohol may be dangerous. And even cians or scientists from Society of Medi- for those who can drink a certain cal Friends of Wine, Box 218, Sausalito, amount, exceeding that limit is foolish. California 94965. Research on alcohol and alcoholism There may be a shortage of research is funded by a variety of institutions. funds, but there is no dearth of The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse literature on alcohol-related research. & Alcoholism (NIAAA) had a $22 Since I recently explained how ISJ@ million research budget for both fiscal creates co-citation clusters,468d7 let’s see years 1979 and 1980. David Hamburg, how clustering works for alcohol re- president, Institute of Medicine (IOM), search. The paper by Yano et al. men- recently stated that alcoholism research tioned earlier2T and the paper by is “grossly underfunded .“44 At least one Castefli et al. ~ turn out to be the cita- for-profit group, Joseph E. Seagram & tion pair which identified the research Sons, is supporting alcohol research. It front in 1979 called “Alcohol Intake and recently granted the Harvard Medical Cardiac Mortality.” Fifty-eight papers School $5.8 million for research on the co-cited these papers in 1979. The 16 biochemistry of alcoholism.ds This papers in Table 1 explicitly refer to amount is peanuts compared to the alcohol. Most of the other papers men- multibillion dollar turnover of the alco- tion HDL. A sampliig of them is given hol industries worldwide. in Table 2. It is noteworthy that the key Also noteworthy is the Society of papers appeared in general medical Medical Friends of Wine, a private Cali- journals, not in journals devoted to

Tabfe I: Papers, which explicitly refer to alcohol in their titles, which cite the 1979 c~citation pair on “Alcohol Intake and Cardiac Mortality.”

1. Baraona E & Lieber C S, Effects of ettsanol on U@ metabofkm. J. Lipid Res. 20:269-315, 1979, 2. Baraona E & Lieber C S. Metabolk ●ctions of ethanol. (Freinkel N, ed. ) Contempomry metaho(ism. New York: Plenum, 1979. Vol. 1, p. 87-113. 3. Barboriak J J, Anderson A J, Rimm A A & Trksni F E. Alcohol sod coronary arterfca. Alcohol, C/in. Exp. Res. 3:29-32, 1979. 4. Barboriak J J, Anderson A J & Hoffmann R G, Jrsterrclmfonsbfp bchvccn coronary artery occhssfon, high density tlpoprotebt cbolcateroL and afcohol Make. J, fub. Ctin. Med. 94:348-53, 1979, 5. Castelfi W P. How many drfnks ● day?J. Amer. Med. Assn. 242:20tXt, 1979. 6. Chcfetz M E, Akohol and akohoflsm. Amer. Sci. 67:2939, 1979. 7. Green P H R & TalJ A R, Drugs, akohol msd makbsrmptlors. Amer. J Med. 67: IM6-76, 1979, 8. Hennekens C H, Wiffett W, Rosner B, Cole D S & Mayrent S L. Effects of beer, tie, and ffqssor la coronary deaths. J. Amer. Med. As.cn. 242:1973-4, 1979. 9. Klatsky A L. Akohol USC,myocmdfaf hrfarctfcm, sudden cardfac decth, and hypcrterssfon. Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. 3;3>9, 1979, 10. Marks V, Blochemkat and metabotk hash of akohol toxldty. (Mendlewkz J & Van Praag H M, eds.) Alcoholism: a multidisciplinary approach. Basel: Karger, 1979. p. 88-%. 11, Morrison J A, KelJy K, Melfies M, Degroot I, Khoury P, Gartside P S & Glueck C J. Clgsrctte smoking, ●kolsed fmnke, and oral conmaceptfvcs-rcfatkrssbfps to ffpids md tfpoprotefsis h adoles. cent schnrd cbfldrco. Me@ bo/ism 2$:1166-70, 1979. 12. Ramsay L E. Akohol SSUImyocsdfat lzstaIcdnrI Is @patmssfw SSSMI.Amer. Heart J. 9S:402-3, 1979. 13, Ricci G & Angelico F. Akohol consumptkn and coronary heari dlsesac. hncef 1:1404, 1979, 14. Robhette C D, Hrubcc Z & Fmumeni J F, Chronfe akolsotfsm and snbscquent nrortalfty b Workl War II veteram. Amer. J. Epidemio/. 109:687-7W, 1979. 15. Rosaner S, Johansson C, Walfdius G & Aly A. Imndfpfsl clearasrce arid Ifpoprotehs patterc fn mcs with advanced ●koholk Uver cfrrhosfs. A mer, J. C/in. Nutr. 32:2022-6, 1979. 16, St. Leger A S. Cochrane A L & Moore F. Factors asaodwcd wfth cnrdlac mortdsy k dcvelopesl cmrntrfcs with partkxlar reference #o the csmmmpdori 01 whse. Luncef 1:1017-20, 1979.

79 alcohol research. The citing papers also journal received, as well as the impact appear in such multidisciplinary jour- factor, the number of times the average nals. article for each journal was cited. Of course, alcohol and heart disease is Our JCR data adds to the known in- not the only important alcohol-related terdisciplinary pattern of alcohol re- topic, Table 3 shows the titles of seven search. Table 5 shows the 20 journals other research fronts identifkd by co-ci- which most often cited the six “core” tation clustering in 1980 which can be journals in 1979. And Table 6 shows the searched through our ISI/BIOMED 20 journals most often cited by the core. SEARCH’” .* 1S1also offers two ASCA- These tables indicate that the alcohol TOPICS” on alcohol: Alcoholism and literature draws on general medical and Alcohol & Drug Abuse: Sociai Impact. science journals but there is a strong Table 4 shows the six journals explic- representation of psychological and psy- itly related to alcohol research. These chiatric journals. data come from our Journal Citation I have not said much about alcohol- Reportsa (JCR ‘“) section of the Science ism per se. While it is dtificult to rank citation ~nde.r” for 1979. The table in- priorities in preventive medicine, dicates the number of citations each alcoholism ranks high indeed. I’ve met

Tab!e 2: A sample of the HDL-related papers that cited the cluster on “Alcohol Intake and Cardiac Mortality.”

1. Agdeppa D, Macaron C, Malfik T & .%hnuda N D, PlnmzMMgh-sfemaky Upoprotelm cholesterol fn thyroid dkaee. 1. Clin. Endocnrrol. Memb. 49:726-9, 1979. 2. kmann G, Txmglar &em xmf tbe pomfbfa da cd ~h-demhy ffpoproteks fa atheroscferosk. Atherosclerosis Rev. 6:1-2$, 1979. 3. Bateaon M C & Boucher I A. Chermdeoxychofk acfd, poaqrmmdlaf aarrrm-trfgJycerfrJcs,and HDL mmm-trfgtycerkb, rmd HDL c!mkcmrol. Lancer 1:930, 1979, 4. CasteJfiW P. Exerdse mnd hf@-tkmky Mpopmte&. J. Amer. Med. Asm. 242:2217, 1979, 5. ErkelmraD W, Albcrs J J, Hazzard W R, Frederick R C & Bierman E L. Hfgh-density tJpoproteJn= cholesterol fu sswvlvorn of myomrdiaf hfarctfmx. J. Amer. Med. Assn. 242:2 f8>9, 1979. 6. Noakes T D, Opie L H, Roac A G & Kleynhans P H. Autopsy proved coronary ●theroacfcmsfis hr marathon mrrrmra.IV. Errg/. J. Med. 301:86-9, 1979. 7. Nupuf M S & Sutherland W H F, Hf@-sJemhy Upoprotein lads hr chffdxm of young men witk kckemk Jteart dkeaac. Atherosclerosis 33:365-70, 1979, 8. Taggart H & Stout R W. Reduced !d@=dcntslty Itpoprotekr fn atxokc-refatforwb!p wfth elevated t@ycerJrJe and bypcrtenslon. Eur. J. C/in. [n ..s[. 9:21’+21, 1979. 9. Wifhms P, Robmaon D & Baifey A. H@s-demdty Mpoprotefraand cormsary rhk.factorr fn normal me=. L.uncet 1:72-5, 1979. 10. Wood P D & Haakeff W L. Effect of exemfac on pfnsrssa M@-dmrdty ffpoprotdrzs. Lipids 14;417-27, 1979.

TaMe 3: Names of alcohol-rekated research fronts Table 4: Major alcohol joumafa. from the “Dregs& searchable throuah research fronts in EWBIOMED Addiction” subiect listing of the 1979 Jouma[ Cita- SEARCH ‘g. - (ion Repor@. -

Advemc effects of alcohol consumption during Tfm-zs pregnancy Thlc Cited kior Alcohol intake and cardiac mortahty Alcoholism-Cti]caJ and 93 .876 TetrahydroisoquinoJine neurotransmitters and Experimental Research alcohol BuUetin on Narcotics 112 .204 Feminization of chronic alcohofic men British Journal of Addiction 323 ,411 Drug and Alcohol 147 .854 Genetic aspects of alcohofiam Dependence International Journal of the 514 .306 Ethanol-induced fiver injury Addictions Journal of Studks on Alcohol 591 1.03s Effects of ethanol on Lipoprotein metabofisnr (calfed Quarterly Journal of Induction of lipid peroxidation by ethanol and Studies on Alcohol prior to halogenated hydrocarbons 1974) Table 5: Twenty journals which moat cited the six TahJa 6: Twenty joumats which were most cited by alcohol joumak in Table 4, according to the 1979 the six alcohol journals in Table 4, according to the Journal Citation Reportsa. 1979 Joumnl Citation Reportsm. Tfraes Ckd Thmm clthsg Tftte by COSW ttst ThJe core ml J. Stud. Alcohol (including 694 J. Stud. Alcohol 219 Quart. J. Stud. AJcohol)’ Int. J. Addict. 157 Int. J. Addict. 152 Alcohol. Cfin. Exp. Res. 60 Amer. J. Psycbiat. 142 Drug Alcohol Dependence 58 Arch. Gen. Psychiat. I13 Brit. J. Addict. 57 J. Pharmacol, Exp, Ther. 111 Amer. J. Dmg Alcohol Abuse 53 Science 110 Addict, Behav. 51 J. Consult. Clin. Psych. 103 J. Drug kues 4s J. Abnormaf Psychol. 97 Brit. J. Psychiat. 33 Brit. J. Addict. 93 Dmg Forum 33 J. CJin. Psychol. 75 Brit, J. A]c. AIcoho] 2a Lancet 72 Psychopharmacology 25 J. Amer. Med. Assn. 66 Psychol, Rep. 24 Ltie Sci. 66 J. Clin. Psycho]. 19 Psychopharmacology 59 Pharrnacol. Biochem. Behav. 19 N. Engl. J. Med. % Behav, Res. Ther. 17 Psychol. Rep, % Acts Psychiat. Stand. 15 Brain Rcs. 55 Clin. Toxicol. 15 Bnt. J. Psychiat. 53 Bimhem. Pharmacol. 11 Drug Alcohol Dependence 45 Brit. Med. J. 11 Nature 45 many people who have been affected by degrees of intensity none has ever done the personal ramifications of this a nationwide cost-benefit analysis on disorder. It is sometimes difficult to the use of alcohol. Even in countries know who suffers most—the patient or with the highest rate of alcoholim the members of the family. It is one of the overwhelming majority of people are most insidious diseases known to man- able to consume alcohol in moderation. kind. Hopefully, research will lead to In spite of thk, since no one knows more precise methods of diagnosis and where to draw the line, societies usually prevention of alcohol abuse as welf as impose prohibhions of one kind or better treatment, Clearly we want to be another. In Scandinavian countries it able to use the beneficial effects of means that you shall not drive even after alcohol without suffering from its ill ef- one drink. In some places, like certain fects. This will be possible on an in- US states, there are age prohibitions. dividual basis only after we have learned Some religious groups, such as Moslems much more about genetic and other and Mormons, prohibit what is not pro- forms of profiling. hibited elsewhere. Societies, like indi- It is obvious that the effects of alcohol viduals, vary as to how much alcohol can be beneficial to some people in cer- they can or will tolerate. tain circumstances, But as yet there are ● ☛☛☛☛ no generalizations that can be made. Some cultures thrived without alcohol; hard liquor was almost unknown among My thanks to Thomas Marcinko, the Indians north of Mexico until the Suzanne Miller, and Edward Sweeney white man came .49 Whale European for their help in the preparation of this cultures used alcohol with varying essay. 0,5.31)s,

REFERENCES

1. How many alcoholic bevemges are being consumed throughout the world? Schiedam, Netherlands: Commodky Board of D~tifled Spirits, 1978.63 p. 2. 1981 US industrial outlook for 200 industnm with projections for 1985. Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce, 1981.551 p.

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We regret to announce the death of Dr. Harold C. Urey on January 5, 1981. Dr. Urey’s contributions to science were immense. As a member of our Board of Direc- tors, he also contributed greatly to ISF. I am glad that I was able to pay tribute to hm publicly while he was alive, 1 and to attend a memorial symposium in hk honor at La Jolla on February 7, 1981. Mrs. Urey has asked me to inquire whether any Current Content# readers could obtain a copy of A toms, Molecuies and Quanta,2 which Dr. Urey coauthored with Dr. Arthur Ruark in 1930, to add to her library. Please send responses to me at 1S1, 3501 Market Street, University City Science Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104 .-E.G.

REFERENCES

1. Guffeid E. A tribute to Harold Urey. Current Cnnfenrs (49):5-9, 3 December 1979. 2. Ruark A E & Urey H C. ,-ifom$, molec.fes and quanta. New York: McGraw Hiit, 1930.793 p.