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alcohol and your heart
consumption of alcohol in moderation reduces the incidence of heart attack by 25%
Only two drinks per day can reduce the risk of heart attack by
at 25 percent, according to a report published this week in the
British Medical
Journal by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. The authors found
equal benefit for spirits,
beer and wine.
By examining over 75 previous clinical studies in which alcohol was provided in experimental amounts, the researchers have pinpointed two mechanisms by which alcohol helps reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Ethanol alcohol increases HDL-cholesterol ("good cholesterol") and reduces clotting ability in the blood. A higher HDL level slows down the development of atherosclerosis, a plaque build-up that forms on the interior of arteries in the heart. As atherosclerosis progresses it narrows the artery, dramatically increasing the risk of heart attack. The cholesterol and blood-clotting benefits of alcohol are also applicable to women; although guidelines for women are for a single drink a day because there is evidence that alcohol increases risk of breast cancer. One drink per day will not substantially increase this risk and will provide some protection against CHD. |
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Alcohol's effect on blood clotting ability is also helpful. If a crack breaks open in the atherosclerosis plaque, blood will clot around the crack, again with the possibly of plugging the artery and causing heart attack. "We don't recommend that people who don't drink begin drinking for medicinal purposes," said lead researcher Eric Rimm, associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. "However, for those who drink moderately, this new evidence suggests that they are reducing their risk of heart attack by about a 25%." "This is a significant effect," he said. "It's about the same risk reduction for heart attack that a person who was overweight by 30 pounds would achieve by losing those 30 pounds." He also added, however, that an overweight person would achieve multiple health benefits from losing weight--overall, an overweight person would be better served by losing weight. Or, ideally, losing weight and drinking moderately. |
The researchers found a dose-response curve with alcohol consumption with the 2 mechanisms. Lowered beneficial health effects were found with lower doses of alcohol, and increased benefits for cholesterol and blood clotting were found with consumption in excess of two drinks.
This new study summarizes 25 years of experiment research on alcohol consumption and indicates that moderate consumption of alcohol is causally related to lower risk of CHD through alcohol-induced changes in lipids and clotting factors.
"However," cautioned Rimm, "once you begin drinking more than two drinks each day you may begin to put yourself at risk for a host of adverse health conditions--various cancers, alcoholism, bleeding disorders, accidental injury and death. Men achieve maximum benefit and minimum risk at two drinks a day."
"Most people think heart attacks are caused by continuous narrowing of the arteries (with plaque)," Victor said, "but it's not like that. Some people don't have much plaque but their plaque is tearing open and causing heart attacks."
"A heart attack was once considered to be an inevitable product of our lifestyle," he said, "but perhaps it's just an inflammatory process out of control."
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