Moderate Drinking May Help the Heart
Moderate Drinking May Help the Heart
Studies Provide New Evidence That Moderate Drinking Prevents Heart-Related Deaths
March 22, 2010 -- Two large new studies add weight to a growing body of evidence that light-to-moderate drinking may have a protective effect on the heart and prevent heart-related deaths.
While researchers stop short of recommending that people who don’t drink take up drinking alcohol in hopes of reaping health benefits, they say the results "provide some of the strongest evidence to date" that moderate drinking reduces the risk of heart disease in a wide variety of people.
The first study showed that light-to-moderate drinking -- about one drink per day for women and two per day for men -- reduced the risk of heart-related death in a diverse national sample of more than 245,000 adults.
A second study showed moderate drinking reduced the risk of heart-related death as well as death from any cause in people with existing heart disease, thus extending the benefits already shown in healthy people.
Although experts say "absolute proof" that people at risk for heart disease benefit from light to moderate drinking will not appear anytime soon, the case is becoming increasingly compelling.
"The risks of moderate drinking differ by sex, age, personal history, and family history," writes Arthur L. Klatsky, MD, of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, Calif., in an editorial that accompanies the studies in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
"As is often the case in medical practice, advice about lifestyle must be based on something less than certainty," says Klatsky. "What is required is a synthesis of common sense and the best available scientific facts."
In the first study, researcher Kenneth J. Mukamal, MD, MPH, of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data collected by the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey of nearly a quarter million U.S. adults between 1987 and 2000.
Researchers divided drinkers and abstainers into six different categories (never drinkers, lifetime infrequent drinkers, and former drinkers as well as light, moderate, and heavy current drinkers). Light drinkers were those who regularly drank three or fewer drinks per week. Moderate drinkers were those who regularly drank four to seven drinks per week (for women) or four to 14 drinks per week (for men).
Moderate Drinking May Help the Heart
Studies Provide New Evidence That Moderate Drinking Prevents Heart-Related Deaths
March 22, 2010 -- Two large new studies add weight to a growing body of evidence that light-to-moderate drinking may have a protective effect on the heart and prevent heart-related deaths.
While researchers stop short of recommending that people who don’t drink take up drinking alcohol in hopes of reaping health benefits, they say the results "provide some of the strongest evidence to date" that moderate drinking reduces the risk of heart disease in a wide variety of people.
The first study showed that light-to-moderate drinking -- about one drink per day for women and two per day for men -- reduced the risk of heart-related death in a diverse national sample of more than 245,000 adults.
A second study showed moderate drinking reduced the risk of heart-related death as well as death from any cause in people with existing heart disease, thus extending the benefits already shown in healthy people.
Although experts say "absolute proof" that people at risk for heart disease benefit from light to moderate drinking will not appear anytime soon, the case is becoming increasingly compelling.
"The risks of moderate drinking differ by sex, age, personal history, and family history," writes Arthur L. Klatsky, MD, of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, Calif., in an editorial that accompanies the studies in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
"As is often the case in medical practice, advice about lifestyle must be based on something less than certainty," says Klatsky. "What is required is a synthesis of common sense and the best available scientific facts."
Benefits of Light-to-Moderate Drinking
In the first study, researcher Kenneth J. Mukamal, MD, MPH, of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data collected by the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey of nearly a quarter million U.S. adults between 1987 and 2000.
Researchers divided drinkers and abstainers into six different categories (never drinkers, lifetime infrequent drinkers, and former drinkers as well as light, moderate, and heavy current drinkers). Light drinkers were those who regularly drank three or fewer drinks per week. Moderate drinkers were those who regularly drank four to seven drinks per week (for women) or four to 14 drinks per week (for men).
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