Scientists have proved the harm of giving up drinking
7 servings of alcohol a week helps not to die from heart failure
Monitoring the health of 15 thousand citizens aged 46 to 60 years showed that moderate alcohol consumption – up to seven servings of strong drinks per week – can reduce the risk of death from heart failure by about 20%, doctors say in an article published in the European Heart Journal (Goncalves et al., Alcohol consumption and risk of heart failure: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study – VM). Researchers call a "portion" any volume of a hot drink that contains 14 grams of ethyl alcohol. It can be as small (125 grams) a glass of wine, and an incomplete shot of vodka or whiskey.
The authors of the article used the results of monitoring, which were collected by the US social services for almost two decades, to check how alcohol affects the frequency of heart attacks and cardiac arrests. These were participants of the national program for the prevention and study of atherosclerosis, which took place back in the late 80s of the last century.
Although scientists emphasize that the study only suggests a possible link between alcohol consumption and a reduced risk of cardiac arrest, the data obtained during the observation of the participants of the program gave remarkable results.
For example, abstinence from alcohol consumption does not seem to help prolong life – during the experiment, non-drinkers died from cardiovascular diseases as often as chronic alcoholics. On the other hand, moderate alcohol consumption was statistically associated with a reduced risk of becoming a victim of cardiac arrest.
Graph from an article in EHJ. Dotted lines indicate 95% confidence intervals – VM.
Interestingly, this effect was manifested to varying degrees among men and women – alcohol reduced the chances of becoming a victim of heart failure by 20% for the stronger sex, and only by 16% for ladies. The opposite was observed among former alcoholics – abstinence from alcohol in adulthood and in old age led to the fact that they became 17-19% more susceptible to heart problems.
The beneficial effect of alcohol on the heart and blood vessels "Pro Health" was confirmed by the director of the Scientific and Practical Center for Interventional Cardioangiology, Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor David IOSELIANI.
"I was one of the first in our country who said that small doses of alcohol are prevention of atherosclerosis. But I'm not a pioneer. Americans in the late 40s of the last century did a very serious job. They performed autopsies and studied the body of drunks who passed away. So, the drinking people had absolutely clean vessels, untouched. There was an opinion that they simply died early and did not live to atherosclerosis. Not at all. These people already had normal coronary arteries at an advanced age. It has now been proven that alcohol in small doses is an opponent of atherosclerosis," the professor said.
According to Ioseliani, in order for alcohol intake to have some kind of preventive effect, there must be some volume. 150 ml for a healthy person is nothing. "Another thing is that our brother does not know the difference between 150 ml and half a liter," he stressed.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru20.01.2015