8/11/2014

Alcohol does not benefit the heart, claims new study - Medical News Today

Alcohol does not benefit the heart, claims new study

Friday 11 July 2014 - 3am PST
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Cardiovascular / Cardiology

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new BMJ study finds that even

among people who drink only light
to moderate amounts of alcohol,
reducing consumption can improve
heart health, reduce body mass index,
and bring down blood pressure.
The large multi-center international study, which
was co-led by the Perelman School of Medicine at
the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, calls
into question previous research that suggests light
to moderate drinking may be good for the heart.
The study defines light to moderate drinking as consuming 0.6 to 0.8 fluid ounces of alcohol a day,
or 17 to 23 ml, which is roughly what a 175 ml glass of wine contains.
The 155 researchers - from the UK, continental Europe, North America, and Australia - pooled and
analyzed data about links between drinking habits and heart health from 56 epidemiological
studies covering more than 260,000 people of European descent.
They found that people with a particular gene consumed 17% less alcohol per week, were less likely
to binge drink, and were more likely to abstain from alcohol altogether, than non- carriers.
These lower alcohol consumers typically had a 10% average reduced risk of coronary heart disease,
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Alcohol does not benefit the heart, claims new study - Medical News Today

lower blood pressure and a lower body mass

index (BMI).
The researchers conclude that reducing
alcohol consumption across all levels of
consumption - even light to moderate
drinking - is beneficial for heart health.
Co-lead author Michael Holmes, a research
assistant professor in Perelman School of
Medicine's department of Transplant Surgery,
says, "Contrary to what earlier reports have
shown, it now appears that any exposure to
alcohol has a negative impact upon heart
health."
He explains how for some time, observational
studies have suggested only heavy drinking is
bad for the heart, and that light drinking might
even provide some benefit, and this has led
some people to believe moderate consumption
is good for their health, even lowering their risk
of heart disease.

The researchers found that people with a particular

gene consumed 17% less alcohol per week, were less
likely to binge drink, and were more likely to abstain
from alcohol altogether, than non-carriers.

Even for light-to-moderate drinkers,

reduced consumption may improve
heart health
"However, what we're seeing with this new study, which uses an investigative approach similar to a
randomized clinical trial, is that reduced consumption of alcohol, even for light-to-moderate
drinkers, may lead to improved cardiovascular health," says Prof. Holmes.
The focus of the study was investigating the heart health of people who carry a particular version of
the gene "alcohol dehydrogenase 1B" which codes for a protein that helps to break down alcohol
more quickly than in non-carriers.
The rapid breakdown causes nausea, facial flushing, and other symptoms, and is linked to lower
levels of alcohol consumption over time.
The team used the gene as an indicator of lower alcohol consumption, and from there found the
links between lower consumption and improved heart health.
Funds from the British Heart Foundation and the Medical Research Council in the UK financed the
study.
In April 2014, Medical News Today learned how neuroscientists at the University of Utah are
investigating a region of the brain that regulates how sensitive we are to the negative effects of
alcohol. Inactivating this region of the brain in rats led them to drink more alcohol, at a faster pace.
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8/11/2014

Alcohol does not benefit the heart, claims new study - Medical News Today

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

View all articles written by Catharine, or follow her on:

Copyright: Medical News Today

Not to be reproduced without the permission of Medical News Today.

References
Association between alcohol and cardiovascular disease: Mendelian randomisation analysis based on individual
participant data, Michael V. Holmes, et al., BMJ, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.g4164, published online 10 July 2014.
University of Pennsylvania news release, accessed 11 July 2014.

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