More Evidence Light
Drinking Cuts Heart Risks
Excerpt By Alison McCook, Reuters Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A study of almost 40,000 men adds to the growing body of evidence that drinking alcohol of any kind a few times each week can reduce the risk of heart disease. This new study demonstrates that whether your tastes lie in wine, beer, or liquor, any form of alcoholic drink confers the same advantages.

And drinking outside of meals appears to work just as well as drinks coupled with food, Dr. Kenneth J. Mukamal of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts and his colleagues report in the January 9th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

However, Mukamal added his voice to the cries of caution from experts who note that regular drinking can also result in alcohol abuse, a life- and lifestyle-threatening problem.

"Heavier drinking, especially of large amounts at a time, is of no added benefit for the heart and potentially dangerous for other parts of the body," Mukamal told Reuters Health.

He noted that he cannot predict whether these results will apply to women, as well. If they do, Mukamal said the so-called "optimal" drinking level would likely be lower for women than for men.

Mukamal and his colleagues obtained their findings from following 38,077 men for 12 years, noting how much alcohol they drank and whether they developed heart disease. All men were heart disease- and cancer-free when the study began.

The authors asked participants about how much alcohol they consumed once every 4 years.

By the end of the study, 1,418 study participants had experienced a heart attack. "We found that men who drink relatively small amounts--say one drink on 3 to 4 days per week--are in the lowest risk group" for heart disease, Mukamal said, showing a 32% lower risk of heart attack than those who drank alcohol less than once a week.

In addition, increasing their drinking habits appeared to decrease their risk of heart problems. Men who said they had increased their habit by 12.5 grams of alcohol per day over a 4-year period--roughly equivalent to one serving of wine, beer, or liquor--also saw a drop in their risk of heart attack by 22%.

For example, men who increased their drinking during the study period from one to two drinks each day had a lower risk of heart attack.

Although heavy drinking is known to bring on a host of medical problems, Mukamal and his team discovered that men who downed more than 30 grams of alcohol per day saw a similar drop in heart problems as those who drank much less--even less than one daily drink.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Mukamal said that light drinking could promote heart health in many ways. For instance, he noted, alcohol can boost levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, a healthy form of cholesterol that can protect against heart disease.

Alcohol may also act as a blood thinner, preventing drinkers from forming potentially life-threatening clots. Mukamal added that recent research suggests that moderate drinking can improve the body's ability to process blood sugar, and may even reduce the risk of diabetes.

Still, although many studies now link light drinking to a healthy heart, these results only show an association, and not that one causes the other, writes Dr. Ira J. Goldberg of Columbia University in New York City, who wrote an accompanying editorial.

In addition, the toxic effects of drinking too much alcohol are well known, Goldberg notes. So while encouraging drinking could reduce heart problems, it may also lead to "thousands of additional deaths per year due to cancer, motor vehicle accidents, and liver disease," he writes.

As such, Goldberg notes that there is "insufficient information to encourage patients who do not drink alcohol to start."

One of Mukamal's co-authors, Dr. Eric B. Rimm of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, has received speaking fees from the Distilled Spirits Council and Beverage Wholesalers.

SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine 2003;348:109-118,163-164.

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