Posted by dougW (207.107.182.114) on June 01, 2000 at 11:58:12:
Good news from our friends the the British Journal of Medicine and Reuters News:
Now, that's preventative. Cheers
DougW
Moderate Beer Drinking Reduces Risk of Nonfatal MI in Men
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By Merritt McKinney
WESTPORT, May 22 (Reuters Health) - Daily moderate beer drinking is associated with a reduced risk of myocardial infarction (MI). The results suggest that ethanol, rather than substances present in different alcoholic beverages, is responsible for the protective effects of alcohol consumption, researchers report.
"It has become almost a conventional wisdom that red wine is protective," the study's first author, Dr. Martin Bobak, of University College London, UK, told Reuters Health. "In studies where wine drinkers were compared with drinkers of other beverages within one population, wine drinkers seemed to have a lower risk of heart disease."
But other factors associated with wine drinking, including higher social status, healthier diet and less cigarette smoking may account for some of the apparent benefits, according to Dr. Bobak.
To evaluate the potential health benefits of beer, Dr. Bobak and his colleagues conducted a case-control study in the Czech Republic, where most drinkers consume beer rather than wine or liquor. Cases were approximately 200 men who had experienced a first MI, and controls were more than 700 men in the general population. The researchers limited the analysis to men who either did not drink alcohol or who drank beer exclusively.
As reported in the May 20th issue of the British Medical Journal, the lowest risk of a nonfatal MI was among men who drank daily or almost daily and those who drank 4 to 8.9 liters of beer each week. The risk was 62% lower among those who drank on a daily or near-daily basis and 66% lower among moderate beer drinkers.
"The study showed that the protective effect of beer is similar to wine," Dr. Bobak said. It also "confirms previous studies that the protective effect is restricted to people who drink often and moderately."
"The myth about the special qualities of wine is, in our view, wrong," Dr. Bobak added.
BMJ 2000;320:1378-1379.