|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Moderate Drinkers More Likely to Report Better
Health than Even Non-Drinkers
Moderate drinking defined as 4 to 14 drinks weekly
for men, 4 to 7 for women
By Katherine Kahn, Contributing Writer
Health Behavior News Service
 June 29, 2007 - Moderate drinkers are more likely
to report above-average health than lifetime abstainers, light drinkers
and heavy drinkers, a new study reveals.
Our results suggest that a moderate amount of
drinking is not necessarily dangerous for most people and may actually
be health-enhancing, said study coauthor Michael French, Ph.D.
However, it is unclear whether moderate drinking
leads to better health or whether moderate drinkers simply lead
healthier lifestyles, he said.
This finding confirmed much of the clinical
evidence on this topic. However, previous research has focused on
objective health indicators such as cardiovascular disease, injuries and
mortality. We wanted to see if moderate drinkers are actually feeling
better by their own assessment, said French, professor of health
economics at the University of Miami.
The study appears in the July/August issue of the
American Journal of Health Promotion.
The study used 2002 data from a representative
survey of U.S. households, representing more than 31,000 adults. The
U.S. Census Bureau conducts the survey for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Participants answered questions about alcohol
consumption, health behaviors and chronic health conditions. Researchers
defined moderate drinking as four to 14 drinks weekly for men and four
to seven drinks weekly for women.
Compared with lifetime abstainers and former light
drinkers, moderate-drinking men were 1.27 times more likely to report
above-average health. Women who were moderate drinkers were more than
twice as likely to report above-average health as abstainers were.
Arthur Klatsky, M.D., a researcher and cardiology
consultant at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland,
Calif., suggests that the studys results for moderate drinkers probably
have something to do with healthy lifestyles. By and large, the same
people that work out and eat healthy are probably more likely to be
moderate drinkers instead of heavier drinkers, he said.
One health benefit of moderate drinking is the
ability to ward off cardiovascular disease, particularly hardening of
the arteries and stroke caused by blockages in blood vessels, Klatsky
added.
Both French and Klatsky warn that heavy drinking
contributes to poor health. Heavy drinking by everybodys reckoning is
bad business for health and social outcomes, Klatsky said.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
