One, Two Drinks A Day Good For Heart
September 12, 2011 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Sept. 10 (UPI) — How and when a person drinks may be a more significant factor than how much one drinks in how alcohol affects the body, U.S. researchers say.
Study author John Cullen, a research associate professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, says population studies support an association between alcohol and cardiovascular disease, but this research relied on self-reported data, which is not always accurate or reliable.
The study, published in the journal Atherosclerosis, found daily moderate drinking — two drinks per day, seven days a week — decreased atherosclerosis in mice. Binge drinking — seven drinks a day over the weekend — increased development of the disease.
Atherosclerosis, or the hardening and narrowing of arteries, is a serious condition that can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
“People need to consider not only how much alcohol they drink, but the way in which they are drinking it,” Cullen says in a statement. “Research shows that people have yet to be convinced of the dangers of binge drinking to their health; we’re hoping our work changes that.”
However, scientists don’t yet understand how moderate alcohol consumption benefits cardiovascular health or how binge drinking episodes hurt it, Cullen says.
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