Health
Moderate alcohol consumption has health benefits for older adults, study finds
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 21, 2006
Older adults who consume one to seven alcoholic beverages a week may live longer and have a reduced risk for cardiac events than those who do not drink -- an association that appears to be independent of the anti-inflammatory effects of alcohol, according to an article in the July 24 Archives of Internal Medicine.
Although alcohol use may worsen some chronic diseases and the overall effect of drinking on survival is not clear, several studies have shown that alcohol may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and heart failure and contribute to a lower death rate, said researchers who studied the effects of alcohol on 2,487 adults without heart disease. Compared to those who never or only occasionally drank, those who had one to seven drinks a week had a 26% lower risk of death overall, or 20 deaths versus 27 per 1,000 person-years, and an almost 30% lower risk of cardiac events, or 21 deaths versus 29.
The participants ranged in age from 70 to 79 years old and were classified according to how many drinks they had in a typical week. Almost half of the participants never drank alcohol or had less than one drink per week. During 5.6 years of follow-up, 397 participants died and 383 had a cardiac event.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/08/21/hlbf0821.htm.
