Drinking heavily may be the key to staying happy and healthy in later life, a study has found.

Researchers questioned hundreds of people aged over 60 attending hospital for routine surgery about their mood and quality of life, and compared this with the amount of alcohol they drank.

One third of the participants were classified as drinking “potentially unhealthy” quantities. This included those who enjoyed a drink at least four nights a week or people who regularly had the equivalent of two bottles of wine in a single day.

This group of heavy drinkers were slimmer, happier and more mobile than their teetotal and low-drinking counterparts, the researchers found.

The study, which is being presented at a meeting of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, was based on 628 adults with an average age of 72 who were undergoing elective surgery at the University Hospital Bonn in Germany.

The 186 adults in the “medium to hazardous alcohol consumption group” were significantly less likely to be obese or overweight than those who did not drink or drank only occasionally. The high-drinking group also reported better overall health, less pain and found it easier to perform activities such as getting dressed and seeing family.

Vera Guttenthaler, the study’s author, said: “One explanation may be that higher alcohol consumption may lead to elevated mood, enhanced sociability and reduced stress.

“The results may lead to the conclusion that alcohol consumption . . . might support older patients to experience a better quality of life before and after elective surgery.”

British experts cautioned that the study was observational and therefore could not determine cause and effect

Dr Tony Rao, a consultant old-age psychiatrist at King’s College London, said: “Higher self-reported quality of life may be the cause of unhealthy alcohol use because those in this group can not only socialise more to drink greater amounts but may also be generally healthier and able to drink at these levels without consequent harmful effects on health and wellbeing.”

Professor Kevin McConway, from the Open University, said: “People who have a better quality of life in their later years might possibly be more likely to use alcohol, perhaps because they are in rather better health to begin with, or have a different kind of social life.”

The participants were monitored over six months, answering questionnaires before a routine operation and again at a follow-up appointment.

Women who drank “potentially unhealthy” levels reported a better quality of life throughout the study period.

Men reported similar levels at the beginning of the study regardless of how much they drank, but after surgery the group who drank heavily had “significantly higher” scores for overall health and wellbeing.

Dr Maria Wittmann, a co-author, said that it was “an exciting topic for further studies” but stressed the link may not be causal, adding: “Only a tendency in the relationship of alcohol consumption and quality of life could be assumed.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/heav ... -tnsrz8zqw

I suppose if one possesses a cockroach liver it's okay, but I do wonder what percentage of the heavy drinkers didn't make it to old age?

I like it. It doesn't even sound totally unbelievable to me. Many teetotalers are miserable, antisocial creatures, and compared with munching tons of potato chips in front of one's TV, hanging out to drink and to have stimulating conversations with friends does sound like the healthier option.

A sample size of 628 is just cobblers. It is like those fitness Youtubers quoting studies on 20 people proving that intermittent fasting helped raise their IQ by 20. I'll be sticking to 6 days healthy, 1 day 'anything goes'. So far so good