For those living in rural and urban areas alike, alcohol serves as the cultural beverage used for celebration and commiseration. 

Alcoholic beverages have been linked to cancer and detrimental impacts on the heart, stomach, pancreas, and liveryet alcohol has also been found to have health benefits.

The Rural Monitor talked to Dr. James O'Keefe, a preventive cardiologist at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, who has been studying the impacts of alcohol for years and sorting through these mixed messages.

Read the full Rural Monitor article: The Alcoholic Beverage: An Elixir, and Yet a Poison?

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