Moderate drinking reduces men's heart attack risk (all other factors being the same)

News-Medical ^ | Oct. 23, 2006 | Medical Studies

[FairOpinion]

Even as studies have consistently found an association between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced heart attack risk in men, an important question has persisted: What if the men who drank in moderation were the same individuals who maintained good eating habits, didn't smoke, exercised and watched their weight - How would you know that their reduced risk of myocardial infarction wasn't the result of one or more of these other healthy habits? A new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) helps answer this question. Reported in the October 23, 2006 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, the findings show for the first time that among men with healthy lifestyles, those who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol - defined as between one-half and two drinks daily - had a 40 to 60 percent reduced risk of heart attack compared with healthy men who didn't drink at all.

"This latest research speaks to how robust the link is between moderate drinking and heart attack risk," explains lead author Kenneth Mukamal, MD, MPH, an internist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "The fact that we found the association [between alcohol consumption and heart attack] to be just as strong in this tightly controlled group of men as we've found it to be in more general studies suggests that physicians should not avoid alcohol consumption as a topic for discussion when talking with patients about ways to reduce their risk of myocardial infarction."

[KoRn]

Now one thing is for sure. I will never, ever have a heart attack. I wonder if narcotics are good for anything.

[webboy45]

So did they use only pure alcohol so other ingredients were eliminated as the possible good stuff?

[ex-Texan]

Cool ! *BUMP*!

[kuma]

As I've heard it's specifically Red Wine that helps the heart.

1 glass once a week.

Something to do with the darker grapes. You can also get some of the same benefit just by drinking the purple grape juice though not as much since apparently the fermentation process enhances the benefit.

Anyhoo, my mother is the only 'moderate' drinker I've ever met. 1 grasshopper about once a month years ago when she worked at a restaurant. As far as I know now she hasn't had a drop in years.

[Drammach]

My dad went through a period of drunkenness when young, and suddenly went on the wagon and became a teetotaler..
I very rarely saw him take a drink of any kind during my entire life..

He died of a myocardial infarction at the age of 78...

[nonsporting]

I wonder if the number of drinks consumed is underreported. It would seem only human nature to answer the question in this fashion, since few want to be perceived as "drinkers."