Moderate alcohol consumption has a low risk of heart disease

a recent study published in
found that irregular drinking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, but moderate amounts of alcohol recommended by health guidelines may have a protective effect on cardiovascular disease.
A team of researchers led by University College London and the University of Cambridge found that moderate but irregular drinkers, former alcoholics who had been drinking but had never been reported to have had a higher risk of coronary heart disease over a 10-year period than those who followed the UK's moderate drinking guidelines, although non-drinkers who met the rule were limited to women.
overall, of the 35,132 people included in the six queue studies, 1,718 (4.9 per cent) developed coronary heart disease during the study period, of whom 325 (0.9 per cent) were seriously ill. The incidence of coronary heart disease was highest among those who had been drinking but had given up alcohol, reaching 6.1 per cent, of which 1.2 per cent were serious cases, and among regular heavy drinkers, 3.8 per cent were severe, of which 0.6 per cent were serious cases. But the researchers caution that the incidence of coronary heart disease among heavy drinkers is highly questionable because fewer heavy drinkers, especially women, are involved in the study.
results suggest that long-term and unstable drinking behaviors may pose a risk of coronary heart disease. The researchers believe this may be because unstable drinking behaviors often reflect more lifestyle instability, including poor health or life stress. But lifestyle changes may also be related to differences in risk between age groups observed by the researchers.to study the relationship between coronary heart disease and long-term drinking behavior, the researchers analyzed forward-looking longitudinal data on self-reported weekly drinking in six studies, five from the UK and one from France, including information about alcohol consumption and coronary heart disease over a 10-year period,
said.
Long-term drinking behaviors assess intake by self-reported type of alcohol; half pints (about 240ml) of beer or cider, a small glass of red wine and a glass of spirits were reduced to 8g of alcohol in the UK study and 10g in the French study. The standard for moderate drinking is no more than 168 grams of alcohol per week for men and 112 grams per week for women.
researchers also caution that non-drinkers in the study may also include people who have been drinking but have given up alcohol because of a lack of information on alcohol intake prior to the 10-year study. Severe drinkers with the disease may not be included in the study sample because they are likely to quit the program early in the study. In addition, the six studies included in this study are observational studies, so it is not possible to draw causal conclusions. (Source: Tang One Dust, China Science Daily)