Drinking alcohol could reduce heart disease

20 November, 2009

High levels of alcohol consumption could reduce the risk of heart disease in men, according to a new study.

The study, published in the medical journal Heart, was reported in UK newspaper the Telegraph.

Research revealed that low levels of alcohol protect again heart disease and high levels of alcohol consumption also reduce the risk of developing heart disease.

The study, carried out in Spain, showed that drinking between five and 30 grams of alcohol per day reduced the risk of heart disease by 50%.

According to the study, those who drank over a bottle of wine a day still reduced their chances of getting heart disease by half.

The study was conducted by a team of doctors from both the Government and Universities across Spain. They questioned approximately 41,000 people aged between 29 and 69. The subjects did not have heart disease at the beginning of the study and they were follwed-up for an average of ten years. Relatively few women took part in the study so they research team deemed the female side of the study inconclusive.

The report has faced criticism from health professionals. Prof Robert Sutton, Professor of Surgery at the University of Liverpool, told the Daily Telegraph: "This study suffers from several flaws, so cannot be taken to suggest that high levels of alcohol intake can improve health.

"This new study was based on self-reported information in which those drinking more stated they had less heart disease, but those drinking more would probably be less likely to see doctors and have heart disease identified.”