This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Obesity  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In Reply: Dr Anstadt raises the issue of beneficial effects of low-level alcohol consumption. While we agree that analysis of a U-shaped dose-response impact of alcohol on mortality would be of interest, such analysis could be more difficult for nutrition where a minimal dose is necessary for health. Thus, we chose to assess the adverse consequences of alcohol abuse rather than the potential harms and benefits associated with any alcohol use. This is similar to recommendations of the World Health Association to monitor harms from medium- and high-risk drinking.¹ Moreover, it is consistent with alcohol policy goals in the United States, which focus on reducing excessive drinking among adults who consume alcohol.^2-3

We agree with Dr Gandjour that it is important to consider the contribution of conditions that may not cause mortality but have significant health effects. A key question is whether prevention saves money (sometimes) and leads to better . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Ali H. Mokdad, PhD
amokdad@cdc.gov
Division of Adult and Community Health

James S. Marks, MD, MPH; Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc
Office of the Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Ga

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLES

Modifiable Behavioral Factors as Causes of Death
George Anstadt
JAMA. 2004;291(24):2941.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Modifiable Behavioral Factors as Causes of Death
Afschin Gandjour
JAMA. 2004;291(24):2941.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Modifiable Behavioral Factors as Causes of Death
Joaquin Barnoya and Stanton A. Glantz
JAMA. 2004;291(24):2941-2942.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Modifiable Behavioral Factors as Causes of Death
M. Nawal Lutfiyya and Eric Henley
JAMA. 2004;291(24):2942.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Modifiable Behavioral Factors as Causes of Death
Steven N. Blair, Michael J. LaMonte, and Milton Z. Nichaman
JAMA. 2004;291(24):2942.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000
Ali H. Mokdad, James S. Marks, Donna F. Stroup, and Julie L. Gerberding
JAMA. 2004;291(10):1238-1245.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT