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YOU won’t get any health benefits from alcohol until you are older, say Annie
Britton and Klim McPherson of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine. They looked at death rates and alcohol consumption from 1996 and 1998
for England and Wales. Alcohol is known to protect against cardiovascular
disease, and the researchers found that there were 2 per cent fewer deaths per
year, compared with the expected death rate for a teetotal population. But the
benefit was disproportionately found among the elderly, as young drinkers are
more likely to die from liver disease or alcohol-related road accidents. Only
men over 55 and women over 65 enjoyed a net health benefit from drinking (
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, vol 55, p 383).