For men with healthy lifestyle habits, drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may be associated with a lower risk of heart attack than drinking heavily or not drinking at all, according to a report in the October 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Previous studies have found that adults who drink moderate amounts of alcohol have a lower risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) than those who do not drink at all, according to background information in the article. Researchers suspect this is due to increased levels of HDL or "good" cholesterol in the blood. Because there are many risks associated with heavy drinking, physicians do not typically recommend that patients begin drinking alcohol to reduce their heart disease risk--instead, they focus on other proven lifestyle interventions, including diet and exercise. However, these habits are not mutually exclusive, the authors write. "For individuals who exercise, abstain from smoking, maintain optimal weight and adhere to an appropriate diet, there may be few other standard lifestyle interventions to lower risk," the authors write. "Whether alcohol intake is related to a lower risk for myocardial infarction in such individuals is unknown."
Kenneth J. Mukamal, M.D., M.P.H., M.A., Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, and colleagues assessed the connection between drinking alcohol and heart attack in 8,867 healthy men who were part of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which began in 1986 and included 51,529 dentists, pharmacists, veterinarians and other health care professionals age 40 to 75. At the beginning of the study and at regular intervals afterward, the participants filled out questionnaires about their diets and medical conditions, reported the frequency with which they consumed particular substances and specified the types of alcohol they drank. All of the men in the current study had healthy lifestyles, defined as not smoking, having a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25, getting at least 30 minutes of exercise per day and eating a healthy diet, including large amounts of fruits, vegetables, fish and polyunsaturated fats and low amounts of trans-fats and red meat.