THE USE OF ALCOHOL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 11231, 21 March 1908, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE USE OF ALCOHOL.

WHAT ; IS M ODER ATION ? The term "moderate drinker" is indefinite and unscientific, and, if it be granted that the moderate use of alcoholic drinks is a permissible indulgence (though not a necessity in health), some sort of standard must be set up by which men can estimate the matter. When the (rues, tion crops up between doctor and* patient, it usually indicates that there is some little doubt on the paint ; -some doubt as. to whether the patient is, or is not, moderate, a suspicion perhaps that the patient is taking just a little more than is harmless! It is difficult to settle what is excess, 'as men differ so greatly ill their sensitiveness to the action of alcohol, as they differ in the case of many other things which, taken in excess, are poisons. . The general rule is that if a man suffers from distress, restlessness, or the opposite state of drowsiness; . when obliged to go without his usual dose ;■ of stilnulant, ■ he has been taking too much; lie. is becoming intemperate. A really abstemious man can-entirely cease the use of alcohol at any time and : for any length of , time without the slightest feeling of desire for a drink or sensation of discom. fort >of any kind. The point where the harmless use of; alcohol merges into that of excess is that at which the simple stimulation of natural functions.,- such, as digestive secretion, blood cimilation, apd brain activity^ merge into a. different sort of, secretion, circulation, or brain action, and these functions Tiecome abnormal ; for example, if a man gets indigestion from mtiGous secretion and morning sickness, or cough, or if, he gets flushed and talkative, or his usually cool judgment is clouded or perverted, these things are proofs of excess, however little the quantity taken may have been. And the line between the harmless and the injurious action 'is far finer than is usually supposed, so fine that multitudes of men overstep it unconsciously. The primary action of alcohol is. 'that of stimulation, which is not needed in health; the secondary action is the opposite, a nai Icotie action, which again is not a necessity ,in- health, for it. is injurious to bhc finer actions of the nervous system, and detracts froriv a xihan's fullest utility in life. .A very large number of men who proclaim themselves as "moderate drinkers" -'-are, to the medical eyes, plainly just on tlie danger line 'between the harmless - and injurious use 'of alcohol, perfectly aober men according to popular judgment, but with some signs of change of tissue visible ' in the face or hands, some little oncoming of digestive upset, some slight dulling of the finest edge of the nervous actions, a little tremor of the hands in performing precise moveinents, such as \yould be the threading of a needle, etc., some little tendency to excitement and loss of calmness, and carefulness in speech and jndgment, all these slight signs, to the trained medical 'eye, mean danger, Some 25 ' years back the present writer was able to. collect statistics of a considerable . number of people who had been' "moderate drinkers" for about 20 years, from youth to middle age. , All of them, about 300 in number, had found ' it " necessary to consult a doctor owing to slight conditions of ill-health; in many. the symptoms were trivial ; in many they were the early, stages of more serious oncoming illness of a kind due to the over-stimulatioivmerging intonar. cotism of the digestive or nervous system. The quantities taken daily by these people varied from four to "seven fluid ounces of alcohol ; those who had definitely and certainly incurred injury had taken, if beer was the beverage used, from one pint at the lowest to two at the most of strongest English Burton ale or the like, or two' to three pints of ordinary bitter beer, or more of the lightest ale made. If they were spirit drinkers, they had taken* from three to six drinks daily, not well diluted, presumably from six to ten' ounces b$ spirits daily, mc<stly whisky. Those . who were able* to afford wine had taken from four to six glasses of claret or light wine, or half that amount of poi't or sherry. And not one of these people had ever been what is usually defined as "drunk," all being regarded as sober, moderate people. Yet all had passed the line of safety, and none would be ,termed abstemious ; all were suffering from physical changes due to alcohol. I suppose that we might say,, roughly, that the danger line is somewhere at two.-thirds of the above quantities, varying according to the susceptibility of the individual, and that onehalf of those ainounts might be considered as within the limits of abstemious living. These are obviously quantities which the majority of those who regard, themselves as" "moderate drinkers" will regard as ridiculously small ; nmi.,iE any man or woman prefers to go still further, and abstain entirely, he or she is perfectly sure of escapJng injury. "ABSTEMIOUS."