Alcohol, health and cardiovascular disease.

Recent epidemiological studies have shown that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation and gastrointestinal and breast cancer. Various sectors are therefore promoting abstinence from alcohol. However, light alcohol consumption has once again been shown to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction and diabetes but with an unclear effect on cerebrovascular disease. The decision to consume alcohol should therefore be an individual one based on personal factors. A level of consumption <100 g/week for men (less for women) appears not to increase all-cause mortality, while high consumption or binge drinking significantly increases mortality risk. All measures to prevent this type of consumption, especially among the younger population, should therefore be applied. There are data indicating an advantage of wine over other beverages, but they are not conclusive.

Alcohol, health and cardiovascular disease. / Alcohol, salud y enfermedad cardiovascular.

Recent epidemiological studies have shown that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation and gastrointestinal and breast cancer. Various sectors are therefore promoting abstinence from alcohol. However, light alcohol consumption has once again been shown to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction and diabetes but with an unclear effect on cerebrovascular disease. The decision to consume alcohol should therefore be an individual one based on personal factors. A level of consumption <100g/week for men (less for women) appears not to increase all-cause mortality, while high consumption or binge drinking significantly increases mortality risk. All measures to prevent this type of consumption, especially among the younger population, should therefore be applied. There are data indicating an advantage of wine over other beverages, but they are not conclusive.

Consumo de drogas legales y estilo de vida en estudiantes de medicina / Consumption of legal drugs and lifestyle in medical students

OBJETIVOS: valorar el consumo de drogas legales en estudiantes de medicina y su estilo de vida en relación con la dieta y ejercicios físicos. MÉTODOS: investigación descriptiva de corte transversal en 494 estudiantes de diferentes nacionalidades: cubanos, latinoamericanos y chinos. Se aplicó una encuesta anónima para obtener los datos. Todos firmaron el consentimiento de participación. RESULTADOS: la muestra quedó conformada por 263 estudiantes del sexo femenino y 231 del sexo masculino. Se encontró una prevalencia de vida de 86 por ciento en el consumo de alcohol en todos los estudiantes con un consumo actual de 44 por ciento, con predominio de los bolivianos, los chinos y los extranjeros mixtos. Estos estudiantes también alcanzaron los mayores porcentajes en el consumo de tabaco y café. Las mujeres tuvieron prevalencias discretamente más bajas en el consumo de alcohol y tabaco que los hombres pero el consumo actual de café fue ligeramente mayor. El 55 por ciento del total de estudiantes realizaba actividad física y el 30 por ciento consumían una dieta adecuada. CONCLUSIONES: la prevalencia de vida de consumo de alcohol en los estudiantes de medicina estudiados es alta, mayor en los bolivianos, chinos y extranjeros mixtos. Casi la mitad de los estudiantes tiene un consumo actual de alcohol y una sexta parte presenta un consumo nocivo del mismo, fundamentalmente en el sexo masculino, el sexo femenino se está iniciando a la par del masculino. Tanto la actividad física como el consumo de una dieta adecuada, elementos que implican un estilo de vida saludable, deben incrementarse(AU)

OBJECTIVES: to value the consumption of legal drugs in medical students and their lifestyle in terms of diet and exercising. METHODS: cross-sectional descriptive research study of 494 students from various nationalities including Cubans, Latin Americans and Chinese. An anonymous surveys wos applied to collect information. All the students were agreed to participate by signing the consent document. RESULTS: the sample covered 263 females and 231 males. Life prevalence of 86 percent in alcohol consumption in all the students, with current consumption of 44 percent in which Bolivians, Chinese and mixed foreigners prevailed. These students also reached the highest percentages of smoking and coffee-taking. Females exhibited slightly lower prevalence rates in alcohol consumption and smoking than males, but their coffee-taking rate at present is a little higher. Fifty five percent of students did exercising and 30 percent showed adequate food diet. CONCLUSIONS: life prevalence of alcohol consumption in researched medical students is high, mainly in Bolivians, Chinese and mixed foreigners. Almost half of them consume alcohol beverages at present and one sixth showed harmful alcohol consumption, mainly men. Women start consuming alcohol on a par with their male colleagues. Both exercising and adequate foot diet, two elements leading to healthy lifestyle, should be increased(AU)

Un criterio taxonómico para los patrones de consumo etílico / Taxonomic criterium for the alcohol consumption patterns

Con el propósito de redactar un boceto sobre la taxonomía de los patrones de consume etílico para ser utilizado en los talleres nacionales de la oncena revisión de la Clasificación Internacional de Enfermedades, se proponen reflexiones sobre el concepto de bebedor social y las modalidades de consumo no social manifestadas tanto en personas con dependencia alcohólica como en otras sin dicho diagnóstico. A la luz de la trascendente resolución 58.26 se abordan los criterios de cantidad y frecuencia establecidos por la OMS, así como las razones cuantitativas que explican el mayor impacto del uso nocivo de alcohol en personas sin dependencia, que en los propios alcohólicos. Con objetivos taxonómicos, se propone excluir al consumo perjudicial de la categoría nosográfica alcoholismo y valorarlo como el escalón inmediato a la dependencia en el continuo de los patrones de ingestión que conduce a este estado. Destaca igualmente algunas modalidades de consumo de alta significación social cuando se valoran con criterios cuantitativos y cualitativos. Insiste en la metáfora de la decapitación prefrontal por el uso indebido de drogas duras, entre las que se incluyen el alcohol y la marihuana, por sus nefastos efectos sobre la conducta. Propone finalmente mayor atención a las manifestaciones somáticas derivadas de la ansiedad mantenida de los familiares convivientes con adictos a drogas duras en los que el estrés hace igual papel que el humo indirecto y se comportan como adictos pasivos cuya máxima expresión son los codependientes

With the objective of making a draft on the taxonomy of alcohol consumption patterns for use in the national workshops of the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases, some reflections were submitted about the concept of social drinker and the non-social consumption modalities that manifest both in alcohol dependent-persons and non-dependent people. In the light of the transcendental resolution 58.26, the quantity and frequency criteria set by the WHO, as well as the quantitative reasons accounting for the higher impact of the harmful consumption of alcohol in non-dependent persons than in alcoholics were discussed. For taxonomic purposes, it was suggested that harmful consumption be excluded from the nosographic category alcoholism and be assessed as the immediate link to dependency in the patterns of drinking intake leading to this condition. Likewise, this paper underlined some consumption modalities of high social significance when they are evaluated based on quantitative and qualitative criteria. It insisted on the metaphor of frontal decapitation due to the use of hard drugs, including alcohol and marihuana, and their harmful effects on the behaviour. It finally made the proposal of paying more attention to somatic manifestations derived from sustained anxiety in relatives living with hard drug addicts, who are affected by the stress that plays the same role as the indirect smoke and behave as passive addicts whose ultimate expression is co-dependency