Health
Moderate drinking may lower heart attack risk for men
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 6, 2006
A study of nearly 9,000 male health care professionals who led healthy lifestyles and maintained an appropriate weight found that consuming about two alcoholic drinks per day lowered their risk for heart attacks.
The study is in the Oct. 23 Archives of Internal Medicine.
Although physicians have been reluctant to encourage drinking as a healthy behavior, the authors suggest that moderate drinking could be viewed as a complement to advice that covers smoking cessation, adequate exercise and weight reduction.
Previous studies have found that adults who drink moderate amounts of alcohol have a lower risk of myocardial infarction than those who do not drink at all, but whether the association held for adults who had a healthy lifestyle was unknown and was the reason for the study, said the researchers.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/11/06/hlbf1106.htm.
