The J-curve is dead. Long live the J-curve!

There is a resurgence of debate about the validity of the J-curve, especially as it relates to alcohol and cancer. A 2014 report determined that “alcohol use was positively associated with overall mortality, alcohol-related cancers, and violent death and injuries, but marginally to CVD/CHD” (cardiovascular disease). In other words, there was little benefit if any in terms of heart disease but a big upside risk for cancer and accidental or violent demise. Gone was the French Paradox! The J curve is dead! Or not.

Though that statement may be technically true, I looked at look at the data myself and found something different: a strong confirmation of the J-curve for overall mortality, overall cancer deaths, cardiovascular disease, and all “other causes.” This held for both men and women:

Used under creative commons license from Ferrari P, Licaj I,Muller DC, et al. Lifetime alcohol use and overall and cause-specific mortality in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition (EPIC) study. BMJ Open 2014;4:e005245.

How the J-curve was hidden in plain sight

The J-curve may not be immediately obvious, however, due to some interesting choices made with how the data were presented. For one, rather than taking “nondrinking” as the reference, the authors chose "moderate drinking." When we rotate the chart and draw a reference line for nondrinkers (in purple), the pattern is easier to discern. In fact, looking at the chart for women, the J-curve is strikingly apparent for both “alcohol-related” cancers, most of which would be breast, and “other cancers”:

Another noteworthy feature is the CVD/CHD relationship, which drops significantly from nondrinkers and remains low – even at levels considered heavy drinking. The uptick of the right side of the J never appears. Considering that cardiovascular disease outweighs breast cancer as a cause of death in women by very large margin, the conclusion that alcohol had only a marginal benefit seems an almost bizarre interpretation.

Consider also that this is aggregate data for all types of drinking. Beer drinkers tended to fare worse in this population than wine drinkers, but those who drank primarily spirits were not clearly separated out. For wine drinkers, the bottom line is still a J-shaped curve.

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Revisiting resveratrol: new findings rekindle anti-aging debate

Just when we thought the bloom was off the rosé for resveratrol, the anti-oxidant polyphenol from red wine with multiple anti-aging properties, along comes new research giving life to the debate. But first a bit of background: As I detailed in my book Age Gets Better with Wine , it is well-documented that wine drinkers live longer and have lower rates of many diseases of aging. Much or the credit for this has been given to resveratrol, though there isn’t nearly enough of it in wine to explain the effects. Nevertheless, I dubbed it the “miracle molecule” and when it was reported to activate a unique life-extension phenomenon via a genetic trigger called SIRT, an industry was born, led by Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, quickly acquired by pharma giant Glaxo. The hope was that resveratrol science could lead to compounds enabling people to live up to 150 years and with a good quality of life. But alas, researchers from other labs could not duplicate the results, and clinical studies disa

Versatile resveratrol: the ultimate skin care ingredient?

Part 1 Recently I was honored to join Professors David Sinclair of Harvard and Joseph Vercauteren of the University of Montpelleir at an anti-aging symposium at the invitation of Mathilde Thomas of Caudalie in Paris. Caudalie has been using wine extracts (and specifically resveratrol) in their products for more than 15 years, after Vercauteren identified it in wine grape vines. Sinclair has become well known for his work identifying the role of sirtuin (SIRT) genes in anti-aging, and resveratrol as a natural sirtuin activator. While much remains to be proven, it is fair to say that science is finally beginning to have an impact on skin care. With an increasing understanding of what causes aging in skin cells and how botanical antioxidants such as resveratrol work at a molecular level, there is no excuse to use anti-aging skin care products that don’t multitask. Before delving into the potential benefits of resveratrol in skin care, it may help to review how resveratrol

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