Lower Coronary Heart Disease Risk Linked to Heavy Drinking

A new study says that a moderate or even a hazardous consumption of alcohol was associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease. The study analysed the 12-month prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in individuals according to their category of alcohol use.

The study used the 2001 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions study, which identified 16,147 abstinent individuals, 15,884 moderate consumers, 9,578 hazardous drinkers - defined as exceeding sex-specific weekly limits established by the World Health Organization, and 1,484 alcohol-dependent subjects

Diagnoses were generated using the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-DSM-IV version.

After controlling for socio-demographic, psychiatric, and addictive risk factors, the study found that both moderate and hazardous drinking was associated with decreased odds of CHD when compared with abstinence, whereas odds of CHD were not significantly different between alcohol-dependent and abstinent participants.

Our study shows that alcohol may have cardio-protective effects not only in moderate drinkers, but also in individuals with patterns of use traditionally considered as hazardous, said the authors.

Source-ANI