|
Moderate alcohol consumption in middle age can lower cardiac risk
March 10, 2008Previous studies have pointed out the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption as a factor in lowering cardiovascular risk. In a study conducted by the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina and published in the March 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers found that middle-aged non-drinkers who began consuming moderate amounts of alcohol saw an immediate benefit of lower cardiac disease morbidity with no change in mortality after four years.
Studying 7,697 people between 45 and 64 who were non-drinkers and who were participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study over a 10 year period, the authors found that 6% began moderate alcohol consumption (1 drink per day or fewer for women and 2 drinks per day or fewer for men) during the follow-up period. After 4 years of follow-up, new moderate drinkers had a 38% lower chance of developing cardiovascular disease than did their non-drinking counterparts. Even after adjusting for physical activity, Body Mass Index, demographic and cardiac risk factors, this difference persisted.
The study also identified a subset of new drinkers who consumed only wine. When comparing non-drinkers to wine-only drinkers, drinkers of other types of alcohol, and heavy drinkers, the wine-only drinkers had the most significant reduction in cardiovascular events. Drinkers of other types of alcohol also had an advantage over non-drinkers, but the difference did not reach statistical significance.
Writing in the article, Dana E. King, MD, MS, states, "A substantial cardiovascular benefit from adopting moderate alcohol drinking in middle age appears supported by the current study. Any such benefit must be weighed with caution against the known ill consequences of alcohol consumption. While caution is clearly warranted, the current study demonstrated that new moderate drinking lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease without an increase in mortality in a four-year follow up period. The findings suggest that, for carefully selected individuals, a 'heart healthy diet' may include limited alcohol consumption even among individuals who have not included alcohol previously."
Elsevier Health Sciences
Writing in the article, Dana E. King, MD, MS, states, "A substantial cardiovascular benefit from adopting moderate alcohol drinking in middle age appears supported by the current study. Any such benefit must be weighed with caution against the known ill consequences of alcohol consumption. While caution is clearly warranted, the current study demonstrated that new moderate drinking lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease without an increase in mortality in a four-year follow up period. The findings suggest that, for carefully selected individuals, a 'heart healthy diet' may include limited alcohol consumption even among individuals who have not included alcohol previously."
Elsevier Health Sciences
Alcohol Consumption News and Current Alcohol Consumption Events RSSNew research links smoking and body mass index to hearing loss
Smoking and body mass index (BMI) are risk factors in the development of age-related hearing loss, says one of the largest-ever studies into risk factors for hearing loss - but alcohol has a protective effect.
Regular tipple may curb risk of rheumatoid arthritis
Alcohol cuts the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis by up to 50%, reveals research published ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Students with a dense family history of alcoholism are most at risk of alcohol-use disorders
While many university students tend to "mature out" of heavy-drinking behavior by the time they become young adults, some go on to develop alcohol-use disorders (AUDs).
New study reveals brain cell mechanism of alcohol dependence
A study released today reveals a cellular mechanism involved in alcohol dependence. The study, in the May 28 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, shows that gabapentin, a drug used to treat chronic pain and epilepsy, reduces alcohol intake in alcohol-dependent rats by normalizing chemical communication between neurons, which is altered by chronic alcohol abuse.
Scripps Research scientists find seizure drug reverses cellular effects
In the new research, published in the May 28, 2008 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists found that gabapentin normalizes the action of certain brain cells altered by chronic alcohol abuse in an area of the brain known as the central amygdala, which plays an important role in fear- and stress-related behaviors, as well as in regulating alcohol drinking. In the study, alcohol-dependent rodents receiving gabapentin drank less alcohol.
Risk threshold of daily alcohol intake and drinking duration in liver injury?
Alcoholic threshold effect rather than a dose-response effect on mortality from alcohol-related liver injury. Alcohol intake, rather than the type of alcoholic beverage, was more significant to liver injury.
Analysis of alcoholics' brains suggests treatment target
An analysis of brain tissue samples from chronic alcoholics reveals changes that occur at the molecular level in alcohol abuse - and suggests a potential treatment target, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Scientists identify genomic 'fingerprint' for alcohol-induced heart failure
A person with dilated cardiomyopathy has an enlarged and stretched heart cavity, usually too weak to pump normally; most people will go on to develop heart failure.
Moving to the UK worsens maternal health behaviors
After women immigrate to the UK their maternal health behaviours worsen as their length of residency increases. The longer ethnic minority women live in the UK the more likely they are to smoke during pregnancy or give up breastfeeding early, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.
Pediatricians alerted to the developmental nature of underage drinking in special journal supplement
In a special supplement to Pediatrics, edited and sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), physicians will have access in one place to the reviews and analyses of current research on biological, behavioral, and environmental changes during childhood and adolescence that foster the initiation, maintenance, and acceleration of illegal use of alcohol by underage youth.
More Alcohol Consumption News Articles
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |