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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
A Little Alcohol Helps Senior Citizens Lower Death
Risk from Heart Attacks
Latest of several
studies saying alcohol reduces heart problems
 July 25, 2006 - Older adults – age 70 to 79 - who
consume one to seven alcoholic beverages a week may live longer and have
a reduced risk for heart problems than those who do not drink-an
association that appears independent of the anti-inflammatory effects of
alcohol, according to a report in the July 24 issue of the Archives of
Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Alcohol may worsen some chronic diseases and the
overall effect of drinking on survival is not clear, according to
background information in the article.
Several studies have shown, however, that alcohol
may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and heart failure and
contribute to a lower death rate. Light to moderate alcohol intake has
been shown to reduce levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6,
compounds that circulate in the blood due to inflammation.
Therefore, researchers have suspected that the
mechanism linking alcohol to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease may
be related to inflammation.
Cinzia Maraldi, M.D., University of Florida,
Gainesville, and colleagues investigated the relationship between
alcohol, death and cardiac events (such as hospitalization for heart
attack, cardiac pain or heart failure) in 2,487 adults without heart
disease age 70 to 79 years.
Participants (average age 73.5 years, 55 percent
women) were recruited between April 1997 and June 1998 and answered
questions about disease diagnoses, medication use and drinking habits
during an initial interview.
They were classified based on how many drinks they
consumed in a typical week over the past year; the categories were
former; never or occasional (less than one drink per week); light to
moderate (one to seven); and heavier (more than seven). During the
study, each individual was contacted by telephone every six months and
had a clinical assessment every year. Levels of C-reactive protein and
interleukin-6 were tested in blood collected after an overnight fast at
the beginning of the study.
Almost half of the participants were never or
occasional drinkers.
During an average 5.6 years of follow-up:
● 397 participants died and
● 383 experienced a cardiac event.
Compared with never or occasional drinkers, those
who drank lightly to moderately had a 26 percent lower risk of death
overall and an almost 30 percent lower risk of cardiac events, even
after controlling for inflammatory markers.
In contrast, heavy drinkers were more likely to die
or experience a cardiac event than never or occasional drinkers.
The findings indicate that the anti-inflammatory
properties of alcohol alone do not explain the reduced risk of death or
cardiovascular disease associated with light to moderate drinking, the
authors write. Alcohol may have cellular or molecular effects that
reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, or it may interact with
genetic factors to produce a protective effect.
The health effects of alcohol may not be the same
for everyone, the authors caution.
"The net benefit of light to moderate alcohol
consumption may vary as a function of sex, race and background
cardiovascular risk," they conclude.
"From this point of view, recommendations on
alcohol consumption should be based, as any medical advice, on a careful
evaluation of an individual's risks and benefits, in the context of
adequate treatment and control of established cardiovascular risk
factors."
Editor's Note: This work was supported through the
National Institute on Aging. Please see the article for additional
information, including other authors, author contributions and
affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
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