Alcohol may actually be good for the heart in men

May 29 2006

The latest news on drinking alcohol suggests that men who have a tipple every day have a lower risk of heart disease than those who drink less frequently.

But believe it or not they say this does not apply to women.

It is widely accepted that moderate drinkers have a lower risk of coronary heart disease than those who abstain, but almost all research to date has been done on men and drinking patterns and the risk of heart disease among women is unclear.

This recent research by Danish scientists studied over 50,000 men and women aged 50-65 years between 1993-2002, who were taking part in a national health study. They were all free of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.

Information on drinking habits over the preceding year were collected, and participants were then monitored for an average of 5.7 years.

Coronary heart events were recorded and results were adjusted for known risk factors, such as age, smoking, education, physical activity and diet.

In total 28,448 women and 25,052 men took part in the study and it was seen that women consumed an average of 5.5 alcoholic drinks a week while men consumed 11.3.

During the study, 749 women and 1,283 men developed coronary heart disease.

The researchers say that women who drank alcohol on at least one day a week had a lower risk of coronary heart disease than women who drank alcohol on less than one day a week.

However, the risks were similar for drinking on one day a week or seven days a week which suggests that the amount of alcohol consumed is more important than drinking frequency among women.

For men however the risks were lowest for the most frequent drinkers and men who drank on one day a week had a 7% reduced risk, while men who drank daily had a 41% reduced risk.

So you would be forgiven for believing that it doesn't matter how much men drink, as long as they drink every day.

The authors do emphasise that the benefits of alcohol on coronary heart disease are far exceeded by the harmful effects of heavy alcohol consumption.

But before you head for the pub it is worth bearing in mind, say epidemiology experts, that the Danish participants were middle-aged and therefore presumably at a greater risk of heart disease; also the low response rate suggests that extremes of drinking may not have been captured.

It is also worth remembering that the report is an observational study and other explanations for the findings may possibly exist.

Although the study raises important questions about drinking patterns and heart health among men and women, experts do advise that the results should be viewed with caution and not used to justify potentially harmful drinking behaviour.

The study is published in the British Medical Journal Volume 332.