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Why Moderate Alcohol Is Good For The Heart?
 

Consuming excessive amount of alcohol can cause hypertension (high blood pressure), which in turn could cause heart failure and lead to stroke. According to World Health Organization (WHO), excessive drinking is linked to chronic liver disease, many cancers, alcohol poisoning, and heart disease, and alcohol is responsible for 2.3 million deaths globally each year.

So, should we totally stay away from alcohol? Before making such decision, perhaps we should take a look of a study conducted by Italian researchers.

At the annual meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA) held on November 14, 2010 in Chicago, researchers from the University of Rome La Sapienza revealed that men who underwent heart bypass surgery and consumed about 2 drinks a day afterward had fewer subsequent cardiovascular procedures than those who abstained from drinking.

While previous studies have confirmed benefit of light amount of alcohol consumption in healthy individuals, the new finding showed a benefit from light alcohol intake in post-coronary bypass patients.

In order to compare alcohol consumption, 1,021 men, who underwent heart bypass surgery, were asked to complete a questionnaire. Their medical history was reviewed for 3 and half years.

The results showed that light alcohol consumption could reduce additional heart procedures, heart attacks or strokes by 25 percent. However, bypass patients with a condition called left ventricular dysfunction (problems with the heart’s pumping mechanism) who were heavy drinkers were twice as likely to die from heart disease. Heavy drinkers, as defined by the researchers, were those who drank more than 6 drinks daily. Meanwhile, no adverse correlation between moderate alcohol consumption and any medication were found in the study.

However, researchers cautioned that results of their study require further confirmation over a longer follow-up period with more patients and controls.

According to AHA, alcohol should be consumed in moderation. So, AHA recommends men should limit themselves to 2 drinks a day and women to 1 drink a day. A drink is one 12 oz beer, 4 oz of wine, 1.5 oz of 80-proof spirits, or 1 oz of 100-proof spirits.

On the other hand, some scientists argued that it is not the alcohol that benefits people. French researchers from the Hopital de la Pitie in Paris and IPC (Investigations Preventives et Cliniques) Center, Paris, France found that most of the health benefits in drinkers did not come directly from alcohol. Instead, they were due to indirect links like being less stressed, engaging in more physical activity and enjoying a better social status. Their findings were published on May 19, 2010 in the ‘European Journal of Clinical Nutrition’.

The health records of nearly 150,000 people from the greater Paris area who underwent medical examinations between 1999 and 2005 were analyzed. These people, who were 47 years old on average, were split into 4 groups: those who had not consumed any alcohol before, along with low, moderate and heavy drinkers.

In this study, light consumption was defined as less than one 10-gram dose of alcohol per day. This is roughly equivalent to a 12-centilitre (3.5-fluid-ounce) glass of wine with an alcohol content of 12 percent. 1 to 3 such doses were considered moderate.

Participants in the 2 middle groups scored better than those at either extreme across a number of indicators including body-mass index (a measure of appropriate weight), cholesterol and sugar levels, cardiovascular disease, heart rate, stress, depression scores, and more.

Meanwhile, the same 2 groups also scored significantly better across a separate range of criteria, which had nothing to do with drinking. Level of physical activity and particularly socio-economic status were among some of these criteria.

The researchers clarified that alcohol consumption should not be thought to be associated with one’s social or professional standing, but the findings should indicate that people who drink moderately are those who are at the same time lead healthier lives.

Nevertheless, they stressed that their study did not show any causal links, and should not be used as evidence to promote alcohol.

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