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Driving while drinking is obviously a bad idea. And alcohol can cause devastating side effects with a number of medications, including some over-the-counter remedies, like acetaminophen, often sold under the brand name Tylenol.
The liver and the brain are the most susceptible to alcohol's harmful effects. Contrary to popular mythology, the liver doesn't always regenerate itself. As long as extensive damage hasn't occurred, the liver can recover. But once cirrhosis or scarring of the organ sets in--a process that generally takes years of intense drinking--the damage is no longer reversible; the best you can do is avoid making it worse. The brain, on the other hand, tolerates much less abuse. A weekend of binge drinking will kill some neurons. Whether or not you notice depends on how often you do it.
Perhaps one of the most overlooked dangers of alcohol use is that it masks or even exacerbates mental illness, particularly depression. In such cases, undoing the damage caused by the alcohol requires treating the underlying psychiatric disorder as well.
Take It Easy
Although doctors have studied meditation, prayer and anger-management programs since the 1970s, research into the effects of the mind on the body is still in its infancy. The latest evidence suggests that a holistic approach that touches both the heart and head offers the best chance of success. Dr. James Blumenthal and his colleagues at Duke University, for example, have shown that heart patients who exercise and learn how to control their anger are less likely to suffer from ischemia, a sometimes painful condition in which the cardiac muscle is starved for oxygen. Exercise alone was only half as effective.
Attitude also makes a difference. Blumenthal and his colleagues have determined that exercise, combined with weight loss in a support-group setting, allows more people with mild hypertension to normalize their blood pressure than does changing just one of those variables. The message is clear: if you want to improve your health, you need to make several changes in your routine.
More controversial has been the handful of studies that suggest that practicing yoga may help decrease the number of asthma attacks in some patients. The idea is that the regular, measured breathing that yoga teaches may reduce the level of stress hormones in the blood, making the airways less vulnerable to an asthma attack. But if research into lifestyle changes has proved anything over the past few years, it's that while undoing the damage caused by chronic illnesses or unhealthy habits is possible, it's not always easy or foolproof. So be sure to keep your doctor's phone number handy, just in case.
WITH REPORTING BY ALICE PARK/NEW YORK, DICK THOMPSON/WASHINGTON, DAN CRAY/LOS ANGELES AND DEBORAH FOWLER/HOUSTON