Why isn’t there a consistent message about alcohol and health? How do you know if you’re putting yourself at risk? Is it really “all things in moderation”?
Dr. Sarah Wakeman is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School & Sr. Medical Director for Substance Use Disorder at Mass General Brigham. She is also the author of Treatable: Rethinking Addiction and How to Get Care Right.
In this episode, she shares why we hear conflicting messages on alcohol, why what “one drink” means is subjective, the actual health risks even for moderate drinkers, drinking stigma & what real sobriety means.
If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 265: HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE AN ALCOHOLIC? [REMASTERED]
Guest:
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1:04 — How People Measure Their Own Drinking (Spoiler: They Don't)
2:08 — Why the Science Is So Confusing: CDC vs. WHO
3:35 — What "Class 1 Carcinogen" Actually Means
4:39 — Why We Can't Study Alcohol the Way We Study Other Things
6:09 — What’s “a” drink?
11:04 — Does It Matter Why You Drink?
12:27 — The Capsule Wardrobe Approach to Alcohol
14:21 — Health Risks for Moderate Drinkers
16:08 — Breast Cancer and Light Drinking: The Uncomfortable Truth
17:42 — Toxic Load: Can We Blame the Country We Live In?
20:04 — The Challenge of Counseling Patients on Alcohol
25:00 — What Alcohol Does to the Brain
25:34 — Alcohol-Induced Dementia: How Would You Know?
27:17 — Alcohol, Anxiety & Depression: A Two-Sided Coin
29:10 — Dry January: Helpful Reset or False Start?
33:00 — Moral Incongruence and the Drinking Stigma
34:38 — The "Alcohol Puppy" in Your Brain: Dopamine & Reward
36:20 — The Endorphin Connection: Why Alcohol Feels Like a Painkiller
37:17 — Naltrexone & the Sinclair Method: Medicine for Moderation
39:22 — How to Talk to Your Doctor About Drinking
41:40 — The South Dakota 24/7 Sobriety Experiment
44:00 — Is Alcoholism a Disease, a Behavior, or Both?
46:31 — Contingency Management: Rewarding Sobriety
48:23 — "The Opposite of Alcoholism Isn't Sobriety — It's Connection"
49:31 — Where to Find Dr. Wakeman & Her Book Treatable
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