Study Links Drinking Pattern to Alcohol’s Effect on Heart Health

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=3288

Study Links Drinking Pattern to Alcohol’s Effect on Heart Health

Weekend Binge Hurts, Daily Moderate Helps Clogged Arteries in Mice

September 07, 2011

For the first time, new research shows that patterns of alcohol consumption – a drink or two every night, or several cocktails on Friday and Saturday nights only – may be more important in determining alcohol’s influence on heart health than the total amount consumed.

In the journal http://atherosclerosis-journal.com/">Atherosclerosis, scientists found that daily moderate drinking – the equivalent of two drinks per day, seven days a week – decreased atherosclerosis in mice, while binge drinking – the equivalent of seven drinks a day, two days a week – increased development of the disease. Atherosclerosis, or the hardening and narrowing of arteries, is a serious condition that can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

While population studies support an association between alcohol and cardiovascular disease, they’ve relied on self-reported data, which is not always accurate or reliable. According to study authors, this is the first study to provide concrete evidence linking drinking patterns to the development of vascular disease, and the nearly 15 percent of Americans who binge drink – as estimated by the http://www.cdc.gov/BRFSS/about.htm">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – should take note.

“People need to consider not only how much alcohol they drink, but the way in which they are drinking it,” said lead study author John Cullen, Ph.D., research associate professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center. “Research shows that people have yet to be convinced of the dangers of binge drinking to their health; we’re hoping our work changes that.”

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[onehandle]

1. Sounds like I am doing the right thing. nt

[panader0]

2. Is a case of beer a day too much?

But it's light beer.