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Here's some sobering news: A large international study says adults should average no more than one alcoholic drink per day, and that means drinking guidelines in many countries may be far too loose. The study found that people who down more than seven drinks a week can expect to die sooner than those who drink less. (Stobbe, 4/12)

Strikingly, the data did not show a significant difference between men and women in the amount of alcohol that can be consumed without a drop in life expectancy. That directly contradicts U.S. government guidelines that define moderate, “low-risk” drinking as two drinks a day for men and one drink for women, with a limit of 14 a week for men and seven for women — with lower levels for people over the age of 65. (Achenbach, 4/12)

Look at it this way. If a 40-year-old man reduced his weekly alcohol intake from 196 grams (the current alcohol guideline for men in the United States) to 100 grams, he could expect to live as much as two years longer, the study says. Some studies have suggested drinking moderate amounts of red wine is good for cardiovascular health, but what does moderate mean? That’s one question Angela Wood, who studies epidemiology and lectures at the University of Cambridge, and her team tried to figure out. (Santhanam, 4/12)