Alcohol and smoke: the case for less, and for none
Two habits where the health advice has not softened with time - it has hardened.
Most health advice gets more nuanced as the evidence accumulates. These two have gone the other way.
Smoking
There is no safe level of smoking. Not a few a day, not only socially, not only in company. Tobacco smoke damages the lungs, the heart and the blood vessels, and it is the single largest avoidable cause of serious disease anywhere it is common.
The useful thing to know is that recovery begins quickly. Circulation and lung function start improving within weeks of stopping, and the excess risk falls year on year afterwards. Stopping is worth doing at any age and after any number of years.
Alcohol
The older idea that a little alcohol was protective has not held up. The current position is simpler: less is better than more, and none is better than less. Alcohol is hard on the liver, it disrupts sleep even when it seems to help you fall asleep, and it is associated with several cancers at ordinary levels of drinking.
This is not an argument for guilt. It is an argument for honesty about what the drink is doing, so the choice is at least an informed one.
Getting help
Dependence on either is a medical matter, not a failure of character, and it responds to medical help. If stopping on your own has not worked, that is information about the problem rather than about you. A doctor is the right next step.
