Found to reduce adverse cardiac events after CABG and to lower women's total stroke risk
MONDAY, Nov. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Moderate intake of alcohol is associated with a reduced rate of adverse cardiovascular events after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), especially in men; a decreased risk of total stroke in women; and a modest increase in overall health status among women who survive to older ages, according to three studies presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2010, held from Nov. 13 to 17 in Chicago.
Umberto Benedetto, M.D., of the University of Rome La Sapienza, and colleagues evaluated the impact of alcohol intake on the risk of cardiovascular events among 1,221 patients who underwent CABG. The investigators found that light to moderate alcohol consumption decreased the rate of adverse cardiovascular events after CABG, especially among men.
Monik Jimenez, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues studied data on 73,450 female participants in the Nurses' Health Study and found that light to moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a decreased risk of total stroke among women. In another analysis of the Nurses' Health Study, Qi Sun, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, and colleagues evaluated alcohol consumption among 13,961 participants who survived to age 70 or older. After adjustment for confounding factors, moderate alcohol consumption was associated with increased odds of successful survival. Independent of total alcohol intake, participants who drank alcohol regularly as opposed to binge consumption had higher odds of successful survival.
"These data suggest that moderate consumption of alcohol at mid-life may be related to a modest increase in overall health status among women who survive to older ages," Sun and colleagues write.
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