Relatives who drink
 

My mother is 90 and had a pretty bad drinking problem when I still lived at home. She got it under control somewhat but still has (I estimate) 3-4 Vodka martinis every night. More on holidays. Her doctor once told her she was the healthiest old woman he'd ever examined. She's very active for her age. My great great grandmother had a laudenum addiction when she was young and drank whiskey til her death at the age of 92. She had to be physically stopped from going to the dance hall/bar down the road by my grandmother who also enjoyed her vodka until her death from colon cancer at 82. I don't know what I'm getting at here except to offer hope to anyone who worries about their medical issues after drinking. Sometimes you can survive a lot of abuse before getting better. I wouldn't count on it though. I don't know. This is probably not helpful.

Some people avoid the health pitfalls of alcohol, I guess. I wasn't one of them and just lucky to have made it to 50. Don't want to play Russian Roulette anymore.

There are kids in there 20's who die of cirrhosis of the liver too. Probably not good to idea play Russian roulette.

I recently read that almost every heavy drinker will get a fatty liver at some point but estimates of the percentage getting cirrhosis are around 10-20 % I don't think anyone likes those odds. I think I posted this to give myself some false comfort.

At least if you quit, you reduce the odds of fatty liver and cirrhosis and pancreatitis and liver cancer and anemia and cardiovascular disease and dementia and depression and gout and high blood pressure and nerve damage!

The examples you have given can be found with the overuse/abuse of just about anything. Some people are just lucky.

My father smoked two packs (40) unfiltered cigarettes every day for 60 years. He died a slow and painful death because he was ravaged with cancer from the waist down, but his heart and lungs remained remarkably strong. The oncologists could not believe his smoking habits due to the virtual non-effect on his heart and lung functions, but it was documented by his own GP and my mother's pulmonary doctor.

The reason my mother's pulmonary doctor had this information was because she also died a slow and painful death '- from COPD. She smoked, he enabled it, neither believed it caused them any health problems, even after she died from it.

I understand you are sharing your story on here because there are people who may feel it's too late to quit drinking and they shouldn't feel that way. But please make sure other family members don't look upon these incredibly fortunate women and believe it will automatically be the norm for them as well.

My grandfather died at 96 - he was, if not an alcoholic, certainly a heavy abusive drinker all his life.

I doubt I'll see 96 - but my life will be a lot more happy and fulfilled for me not drinking :)

I left out one of my uncles who died in an alcohol related accident. He was drinking heavily all his adult life. It was his girlfriend who was driving however. I seem to have experience on both sides of my family tree with alcohol.