“Your Happy Hour Habits Could Raise Your Cancer Risk” February 11, 2025, by Sumathi Reddy Dr. Catena’s Response: Sumathi Reddy’s article, Your Happy Hour Habits Could Raise Your Cancer Risk, mistakenly equates all alcohol drinking with smoking. This comparison is flawed. Moderate alcohol consumption—up to one drink per day for women and two for men—has been associated with cardiovascular benefits. Tobacco increases cardiovascular risk even at low consumption levels. A recent peer-reviewed report by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) found that moderate drinkers lived longer and had fewer cardiovascular deaths than never drinkers. The potential biological mechanism for this:…

“Do Americans Drink Too Much? Alcohol Is Driving a Debate in Washington” June 24, 2024, by Kristina Peterson and Julie Wernau. Dr. Catena’s Response: As a physician who practiced emergency medicine in California for 25 years, I am surprised to read that the USA panel on dietary recommendations concerning alcohol does not include the United States’ leading researchers on the topic, and instead includes a Canadian researcher and a WHO official.  Hundreds of studies have shown a correlation between moderate alcohol consumption and cardiovascular benefits. The Wall Street Journal article states that some of these articles have been questioned, and…

“Older Adults Do Not Benefit From Moderate Drinking, Large Study Finds”  August 12, 2024, by Roni Caryn Rabin. Dr. Catena’s Response: Following is an exclusive response from Dr. Laura Catena to the Editor RE “Older Adults Do Not Benefit From Moderate Drinking, Large Study Finds”. The article “Older Adults Do Not Benefit from Moderate Drinking” misinforms the public. The referenced August 12th JAMA Network study by Dr. Ortolá et al. actually finds that people defined as healthy (using UK Biobank’s Frailty Index) were not harmed by drinking moderately, in fact healthy adults over 60 were found to have no statistically significant increase…

“For Gen Z and Millennials, it’s cool to be sober” July 23, 2024, by Denise Ryan. Dr. Catena’s Response: In the interest of scientific accuracy, Dr. Catena would like to shed light on these points referenced in your article. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University and Stanford University Medical School, Dr. Catena practiced emergency medicine in San Francisco for over twenty-five years. She is also the Managing Director of a family winery in Argentina. Dr. Catena has extensively reviewed the literature on wine and health.   Your article references this paper published by Dr. Tim Stockwell of the Canadian Institute for…

“Deep Links Between Alcohol and Cancer Are Described in New Report“ September 18, 2024, by Roni Caryn Rabin. Dr. Catena’s Response: The recent New York Times article, “Deep Links Between Alcohol and Cancer Are Described in New Report,” presents a complex issue in a manner that may lead to some misunderstanding. While the article raises important points about alcohol consumption and health risks, it appears to conflate information about light to moderate drinking with data on general alcohol consumption. As both a physician and a vintner, I believe it’s crucial to provide a balanced perspective that accurately informs the public…