Even among people who drink only light to moderate amounts of alcohol, reducing consumption can improve heart health, reduce body mass index and bring down blood pressure, reports [s]Medical News Today[/s]. The large multi-centre international study, which was co-led by the [b]Perelman School of Medicine[/b] at the [b]University of Pennsylvania[/b] and the [b]London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine[/b], calls into question previous research that suggests light to moderate drinking may be good for the heart. The report says the 155 researchers – from the [b]UK[/b], continental [b]Europe, North America[/b] and [b]Australia[/b] – pooled and analysed data about links between drinking habits and heart health from 56 epidemiological studies covering more than 260,000 people of European descent. The lower alcohol consumers typically had a 10% average reduced risk of coronary heart disease, lower blood pressure and a lower body mass index.
Juan Casas, a study author and professor of epidemiology, said in [s]The Telegraph[/s]: ‘We’ve often heard reports of the potential health benefits of light-to-moderate drinking. However, we now have evidence that some of these studies suffer from limitations that may affect their validity… In our study, we saw a link between reduced consumption of alcohol and improved cardiovascular health. Assuming the association is causal, it appears that even if you’re a light drinker, reducing alcohol consumption could be beneficial for your heart.’
[link url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/279480.php]Full Medical News Today report[/link]
[link url=http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4164]BMJ abstract[/link]
[link url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10959082/Light-drinkers-could-still-be-raising-risk-of-heart-disease.html]Full The Telegraph report[/link]