Asian News International

London, December 2, 2005
The belief that moderate drinking is good for heart gives a good excuse to alcohol lovers, but a new study published in the recent issue of The Lancet has challanged the notion, claiming that health benefits of alcohol are lesser than its harms.
Conventional medical wisdom has been that a pint of beer or two glasses of wine a day are good for the heart, but researchers warned that the apparent effect was probably because of other differences between drinkers and non-drinkers, unrelated to their alcohol consumption.
According to The Independent, health experts from New Zealand cite a large US study published earlier this year of 200,000 adults which found drinkers were healthier than non-drinkers, independently of their drinking.
Of 30 risk factors for heart disease, 27 were significantly more common in the non-drinkers. The researchers claim that the lower incidence of heart attacks in the drinkers is likely to be due to this difference in risk and have nothing to do with their alcohol consumption.
They say, if anything, the evidence is more compelling for a protective effect on the heart from heavy drinking. But this is outweighed by the other damaging effects. In the case of light to moderate drinking, any protective effect on the heart will be very small and unlikely to outweigh the harms.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/1...1100020006.htm

London, December 2, 2005
The belief that moderate drinking is good for heart gives a good excuse to alcohol lovers, but a new study published in the recent issue of The Lancet has challanged the notion, claiming that health benefits of alcohol are lesser than its harms.
Conventional medical wisdom has been that a pint of beer or two glasses of wine a day are good for the heart, but researchers warned that the apparent effect was probably because of other differences between drinkers and non-drinkers, unrelated to their alcohol consumption.
According to The Independent, health experts from New Zealand cite a large US study published earlier this year of 200,000 adults which found drinkers were healthier than non-drinkers, independently of their drinking.
Of 30 risk factors for heart disease, 27 were significantly more common in the non-drinkers. The researchers claim that the lower incidence of heart attacks in the drinkers is likely to be due to this difference in risk and have nothing to do with their alcohol consumption.
They say, if anything, the evidence is more compelling for a protective effect on the heart from heavy drinking. But this is outweighed by the other damaging effects. In the case of light to moderate drinking, any protective effect on the heart will be very small and unlikely to outweigh the harms.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/1...1100020006.htm
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