The Key Word is Moderation
by United Feature Syndicate Inc. (12/29/94)

Alcohol in excessive amounts will lead to a hang over. But in moderate amounts, is it good for you? The alcohol and health debate is as old as Western medicine. Here's a brief history:

2100 B.C.

In clay-tablet Rx, Sumerian physicians prescribe beer.

1500 B.C.

Egyptian doctors include beer or wine in almost 15% of all prescriptions.

199

Greek physician Galen uses herb infused wine as medicine.

1000

Constantinople doctors suggest that excessive drinking causes liver damage.

1550

Beer 2nd only to bread as nutrient source in diet.

1600s

Alcohol believed to keep off chills & fever.

Late 1600s

Beer soup a breakfast staple in Europe.

1700

First commercial distillery in Boston.

1760s

Liquor a common part of the Colonial pharmacopeia.

1784

Benjamin Rush, physician/member of the Continental Congress, states that all hard-liquor drinkers eventually become addicted. Abstinence is the only remedy.

1790

Average American drinks 40 gallons of intoxicating beverages a year, more than twice today's intake.

1830s

U.S. temperance movement takes hold.

1850

European medical reports conclude that alcohol is safe in moderation.

1920

Prohibition begins.

1933

Prohibition repealed.

1974

Kaiser Permanente study finds that teetotalers suffer more heart attacks than drinkers.

1987

Alcohol intake linked with a small increase in the risk of breast cancer.

1991

CBS 60 Minutes airs "The French Paradox," indicating that wine may be good for your heart. Wine sales increase soon after.

1992

Moderate drinking found to stimulate appetite & improve mood in older people.

1993

Harvard health study finds drinking associated with a lower risk of heart disease.