A new study suggests that alcohol can strengthen the heart because it teaches the cells how to cope with stress. The researchers from the study, however, did note that this effect is only found in moderate alcohol consumption.
Alcohol Could Save A Life
Researchers from the University of São Paulo in Brazil state that the body produces organisms called enzymes that break down toxic parts of alcohol when people consume it. There are also major enzymes that are released to protect the heart when it suffers from severe damage. This includes when a person is having a heart attack.
The researchers continued that low levels of alcohol could train the body on how to create the enzymes. The researchers of the experiment also noted that past studies have shown that drinking alcohol in moderation can be beneficial for the heart but the reasons were never discovered.
Now, scientists believe that by being exposed to the poisonous ethanol that's in alcohol builds up the same reaction that is needed to reduce the damage caused during a heart attack. The researchers used the equivalent of two cans of beer for an average man in their study. The researchers used mice as their subject and interrupted the flow of oxygen to their heart for 30 minutes to mimic a heart attack.
The researchers found that 50 percent of the cells died during the heart attack that wasn't treated by alcohol, however, for the ones that were exposed to the equivalent of two cans of beer or wine, only 30 percent of the cells died.
Drink In Moderation
The researchers from the study did note that this process does not happen in every person and it all depends on the person's DNA. The researchers stated that at least 500 million people worldwide have a genetic mutation that makes them 80 percent less likely to create the same enzymes, which makes them have a lower tolerance for alcohol.
"The [chemical] that results from digesting ethanol may protect most people if a small amount is produced, but it can also maximize the damage done by a heart attack in an individual with the ALDH2 gene mutation," lead author of the study, Professor Julio Cesar Batista Ferreira, stated. Professor Ferreira, who teaches anatomy, continued that these people are easy to identify because they become sick after one glass of alcohol.
The study did show that too much alcohol can worsen the heart. In the study, the hearts that had a "heart attack" but had the ALDH2 gene mutation lost 70 percent of its cells but the same group which used a drug that simulated the effects of alcohol, only a 35 percent of cells died.
The researchers hope that this could pave the way to create a drug that makes drinking alcohol safer.
