It's fine to drink to have fun or enjoy it, even if unhealthy. It's not fine to drink thinking it's good for your health.

Also, the world has changed so much in the last 5 years. It's not clear to me that radical life extension won't happen in the next 50 years. Best to get on the right side of the escape velocity.

When you have information, you probably wouldn't say "cigarettes in moderation". You'd say "avoid smoking" as much as possible. It looks like alcohol is headed in that direction.

You are welcomed to wait for more data, or to choose to continue to drink (to your chosen level of "in moderation") with or without more data. But the guidelines are probably going to end up being "avoid drinking alcohol".

And lots of old people having hanky panky.

One of the few things they have left to live for, a lot of times. They're not going to be out hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Effect size and baseline risk matter a lot, and while the idea that alcohol was pro-health always felt a little suspect, I don't think this kind of risk profile is at all significant enough for people to change their habits for.

I didn't also read too much into this study, but there is a stark difference between old age dementia and younger dementia. My mom contracted dementia symptoms at 58, which is so much more devastating than another family member who started showing symptoms at 97.