FRIDAY, March 7 (HealthDay News) -- If you start drinking
moderate amounts of alcohol in middle age, particularly wine, you
can lower your risk of heart attack by up to 68 percent, compared
to nondrinkers, a new study finds.
While previous research had suggested that moderate alcohol
consumption was good for the heart, it hadn't been clear whether
starting drinking later in life confers a benefit.
"Among middle-aged people who began to drink alcohol in the
middle age, we found considerable cardiovascular benefit," said
lead researcher Dr. Dana E. King, a professor at the Medical
University of South Carolina's Department of Family Medicine.
Current American Heart Association guidelines suggest that
moderate drinking may be good for you, King noted. "But if you
don't currently drink, you shouldn't start, because of the possible
negative consequences of alcohol," he said, summarizing the
guidelines.
But this new study will challenge that policy, King said. "The
study shows, in a natural experiment, what did happen when people
started to drink in middle age," he said. "Indeed, there was a
considerable cardiovascular health benefit without paying the
penalty in mortality or in higher blood pressure. In fact, it
improved the cholesterol profile."
The findings are published in the March issue of
The American Journal of Medicine.
For the new research, King and his colleagues collected data on
7,697 people taking part in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities
study. All were between 45 and 64 years old and non-drinkers at the
start of the trial.
During the study, 6 percent of the participants began moderate
drinking, which was defined as one drink a day or less for women
and two drinks a day or less for men.
After four years, those men and women who became moderate
drinkers reduced their risk of developing cardiovascular disease or
having a heart attack by 38 percent, compared to the
non-drinkers.
However, the type of alcohol did matter, King said. "Wine-only
drinkers had 68 percent fewer cardiovascular events, whereas the
drinkers of beer, liquor and mixed drinks had only a 21 percent
benefit, and that was not [statistically] significant," he
said.
"A sip of wine with dinner is part of a healthy lifestyle, even
if you haven't been doing it previously," he added.
King cautioned that starting to drink isn't a wise choice for
everyone. "There's a small percentage of people who, when they
start to drink, will drink too much," he said. "People should
discuss this with their physician if they have liver disease or a
family history of alcoholism or other medical problems."
But Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the
University of California, Los Angeles, is one heart expert who
doesn't think that studies have conclusively proven that alcohol
reduces your cardiovascular risk.
People should stick to controlling known risk factors for heart
disease -- such as cholesterol and blood pressure levels -- before
taking up drinking, he advised.
"A number of observational studies have suggested moderate
alcohol consumption is associated with lower risk of
cardiovascular" problems, Fonarow said. "However, it has not been
established whether it is the alcohol consumption itself or other
factors that distinguish those with moderate alcohol consumption
from non-drinkers which account for the lower cardiovascular
risk."
The new study offered evidence that moderate alcohol consumption
was linked to lower heart risks, but there was no difference in
overall mortality between drinkers and non-drinkers, he noted.
"The findings suggest that for non-drinkers, adopting mild
alcohol consumption may have cardiovascular benefits," Fonarow
said. "However, until the potential cardiovascular benefits of
moderate alcohol consumption are tested in a prospective randomized
trial, there will continue to be debate as to whether this is
advisable or not.
"Individuals wishing to lower their cardiovascular risk should
stick to what is proven and recommended by the American Heart
Association, including maintaining a healthy blood pressure,
weight, and cholesterol levels, exercising, and avoid smoking," he
advised.
More information
For more on the benefits of alcohol, visit the
American Heart Association.
