Researchers from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg have found that women who drink beer moderately have lower risks of experiencing heart attacks compared to heavy drinkers and those who never drank beer.
In a study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, the researchers report the results of a survey carried out on 1,500 women between 1968 and 2000 who were 70 to 92 years old at the time. Using data gathered from the survey, the researchers charted the relationship between incidences of cancer, diabetes, stroke and heart attacks, and consuming different types of alcoholic beverages.
For the study, the participating women were asked to detail how often they would consume spirits, wine or beer, and about any physical symptoms they might be having. The subjects gave a variety of answers ranging from "nothing in the past 10 years" to "daily." Over the course of the 32-year follow-up period, 345 women were diagnosed with cancer, 160 developed diabetes, 162 suffered a stroke and 185 experienced a heart attack.
Based on results, the researchers found that those who reported drinking beer once or twice a week to once or twice a month had a 30 percent lower risk of having heart attacks compared to women who consumed beer several times in a day or week or never had a drop. With this, it would appear that drinking beer moderately has the ability to protect women against heart attacks.
On the other hand, those who drank spirits more often than once or twice in a month had 50 percent higher risks of being diagnosed with and dying from cancer, compared to women who drank less.
Dominique Hange, one of the authors for the study, however, said that there remains uncertainty as to whether or not moderate alcohol consumption does have protective effects. The researchers substantiated their findings by checking their results against other risk factors for cardiovascular disease but they were not able to confirm if moderately consuming wine has the same effects offered by beer or spirits. As such, a follow-up study will have to be carried out to provide more accurate confirmation of the results.
Aside from Hange, the other authors of the study are Calle Bengtsson, Valter Sundh, Cecilia Björkelund and Jóhann A. Sigurdsson.
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