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Previous Volume 337:1763-1764 December 11, 1997 Number 24 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Alcohol occupies a unique place in many human societies; it is a widely used drug, tolerated physiologically and socially, with a place in religious ceremony, in ritual, in spontaneous celebration, and in everyday social transactions, but also a drug that contributes extensively to illness, to violence, to social disorder, and to mortality. Humans have consumed alcohol on a regular basis over the past 10,000 to 15,000 years. Like fat and sugar, alcohol is rare in nature, and as with fat and sugar, we have few biologic curbs on excess consumption. The joys of abstinence, moderation, and drunkenness have produced a . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

Related Letters:

Alcohol Consumption and Mortality in U.S. Adults
Lowenfels A. B., Urbach D. R., Bell C. M., Thun M. J., Peto R., Heath C. W., Potter J. D.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1998; 338:1385-1386, May 7, 1998. Correspondence

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