Alcohol lowers risk of heart disease, says study

Drinking a moderate quantity of alcohol on a daily basis can lower the risk of fatal heart disease by helping people to relax from stress, according to a new study being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 70th Annual Scientific Session.

The study considered data from participants who self-reported their alcohol intake as ‘low’  or less than one drink per week, ‘moderate’ (one to 14 drinks per week) or ‘high’( which was over 14 drinks per week).

According to the findings of the study, those who consume one or two alcoholic drinks a day have a 20 percent lower chance of suffering from a major cardiovascular event while also exhibiting reduced stress-related brain activity. Study is based on a healthcare survey of more than 53,000 respondents in the US, who had an average age of 57.2 years, with just under 60 percent being women.

It was found that around 15 percent of those studied experienced a serious cardiovascular event, with 17 percent in the low alcohol intake group and 13 percent among those who described themselves as moderate drinkers .It was also underlined that those who drank 1-2 drinks on a daily basis had a lower-level of stress-related brain activity, suggesting that moderate alcohol reduces stress signals from the brain.

However, the study is limited due to the self-reporting of alcohol intake based on the average consumption of drinks per week.