There is something a bit disturbing about the claim that drinking a large glass of wine will reduce your life expectancy by 30 minutes (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/apr/12/one-extra-glass-of-wine-will-shorten-your-life-by-30-minutes). There is no doubt that alcohol (a rather non-specifically acting but legal drug) has detrimental effects on human health and people would benefit by limiting its ingestion but I suspect the claim only has a rather spurious accuracy. People are notoriously poor at admitting their true rate of imbibing (they often lie). Other life-event factors including 'stress', socio-economic status, diet, body weight, exposure to environmental chemicals, smoking and using other (illegal or prescribed) drugs will also influence mortality. I suspect that it is not easy to accurately evaluate the impact of these factors in subjects. Although I can see why the claim was made (it has certainly had media impact), I feel that many people will be unconvinced by use of such a specific figure .
This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Friday 13 April 2018
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