NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Want to lower your risk of having a heart attack? Drink more water, and less of everything else, new research reports.

Researchers at Loma Linda University in California found that people who drank at least five glasses of water each day were less likely to die from a heart attack than those who drank two or fewer glasses per day.

In contrast, people who drank a lot of other fluids were more likely to die from heart attack than those who drank less, with high levels of non-water drinking in women associated with a more than twofold increased risk of death.

The results are based on lifestyle surveys sent out in 1976 to people living in California Seventh-day Adventist households. This analysis is based on responses from 8,280 men and 12,017 women, who were all aged 38 years or older in 1976.

The authors, led by Dr. Jacqueline Chan, followed the participants for 6 years and noted their rates of coronary heart disease. A total of 246 respondents died from heart disease during the follow-up period.

Chan and her team found that women who drank more than five 8-ounce glasses of water each day were 41% less likely to die from heart attack during the study period than those who drank two or fewer glasses daily. In high-water consuming men, that risk decreased by 54%.

But when they looked at consumption of other fluids, including coffee, tea, juice, milk and alcohol, the risk was reversed, with heavy drinking women exhibiting a more than twofold higher risk of dying of heart attack. Heavy non-water drinking in men was associated with a 46% increase in the risk of heart attack death.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Chan explained that researchers believe that when people drink water, it becomes absorbed in the blood, which decreases blood "thickness." This lowers the risk of developing a heart attack-triggering blood clot.

Other fluids can thicken the blood because in order to be digested, they need to contain the same concentration of particles as the blood. If upon digestion, the fluids need to be diluted, water gets pulled into the gut from the blood.

Chan added that these results should be confirmed by subsequent studies, and that there are certain differences between the study participants and the population as a whole. All participants were white, and most reported healthy diets and levels of exercise, with very few respondents saying they drink alcohol or smoke. However, Chan said she didn't expect there to be any substantial racial differences, and that her team used statistical tools to eliminate the effect of other factors on heart attack. They found that water itself still seemed to protect people.

Unlike aspirin and alcohol, which reduce heart attack risk but can potentially cause other health problems, Chan said that water is a cheap, easy, and harmless way to help your heart. Water "can only do you good," she said.

Commenting on the link between raised risk of heart attack and drinking juice, which is a healthy drink, Chan said that she doesn't want people to stop drinking juice, but they should monitor their intake. "It is very healthy, it's just that you need moderation," she said.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology 2002;155:827-833.

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