People who have a few drinks a week live longer and are less likely to have heart disease, say US scientists.

Previous research has shown the benefits of drinking a few glasses of wine or beer a week - for light to moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of heart disease. It's been suggested that alcohol exerts its positive effect through reducing inflammation in the coronary arteries. Now a team at the University of Florida sheds some new light on the alcohol and heart disease issue.

They looked at a group of nearly 2,500 adults aged 70 to 79 years and asked about alcohol consumption, relating it to heart disease and mortality. Light to moderate alcohol consumption was linked to a 30 per cent lower risk of heart disease, compared to no alcohol consumption; this group also seemed to live longer - with a mortality reduction of 26 per cent. As you might expect, the risk of death and heart disease was considerably raised among the heavy drinkers - for the adverse effects of excess alcohol consumption are well known.

The researchers also measured levels of protein C and interleukin-6 in the participants. These are 'markers' for inflammation and the results suggest that the benefits of light to moderate alcohol consumption - helping people live longer and avoid heart disease - may not be just anti-inflammatory. Other factors may be at work and further research into alcohol's protective effects is warranted.

Source

Archives of Internal Medicine 24th July 2006 Volume 166 pages 1490-1497