Quiting drinking

It's been several days since I quit the habit of drinking beer early in the evening everyday. It has been a refreshment for me after having worked hard in the garden/farm. I could not help recalling chatting cheerfully with Ellen W1YL around our sunset. I was always with a glass of beer then. I have never been a heavy drinker. Only 350ml can a day. 

But ALDH2 subtype might be heterozygote of ALDH2*2 in my case, that is, the alcohol metabolism is slowed with ALDH2*2 allele. This variant, quite popular among mongoloid, could be inducted by alcohol intake but still slows the metabolism of alcohol resulting in aldehyde accumulation which could damage arterial endothelium and/or neuronal tissue etc. It is known to be a carcinogen as well. Since I have drunk alcohol often since young days, I am getting less intolerable to alcohol than before, except for recent years in elderly. 

There are a couple of reasons why I decided quitting drinking. Getting older, I am not feeling as high with drinking as before. I thought I was getting worse with alcohol metabolism. Usual a can of 350ml is often felt too much for me recently. That was one reason why I decided quitting drinking. Secondly, I had sleep disturbance at least partially related with alcohol intake. Shallow sleep and frequent awaking at night. It is well known that insomnia is a risk factor for dementia. I have become more conscious of that problem since I have a family history of senile dementia, that is, my mother's case. 

It is only "a several days long trial" but I am feeling better as for sleep. No change as for early rising. Maybe, the biological clock within me has deteriorated as a consequence of aging. However, sleeping much deeper without drinking is quite helpful to me. So far, no rebound nor withdrawal symtoms yet. 

A few years ago, it has elucidated alcohol is carcinogenic without threshold. If any cancer related with alcohol develops with me, it should be already occured. But for younger people, it should be a problem in some time interval. No threshold is a important factor esxpecially for young people.  

  

Recently, a couple of articles have revealed the relationship between alcohol intake and  arteriolar sclerosis.  

This study shows in cross sectional autopsy cases, alcohol intake is associated with arteriolar sclerosis due to hyaline degeneration in dose dependent manner. It should be noted even moderate intake is associated with it. This arteroloscrerosis should be related with the neuropathology of dementia. The cross sectionality is a limit factor of this study.

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000213555

More recently, another study regarding the same subject has published. They observed 1600 cases for 16 years. It has revealed the alcohol intakers are susceptible to intracranial bleeding due to arteriolar degeneration. It is not a cohort study of longitudinal observation

but is still warning alcohol intake for intracerebral bleeding due to arteriolar hyaline degeneration.

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000214348

These studies are enough to carry on my decision to quit drinking. I fully understand drinking would free us from variety of stresses. To quit drinking or not depends on how we would live our lives. In my case, it seemed a right timing to do so.