Written by National Wellness Institute

New research (January 2015) released by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) provides evidence that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol is linked to reduced risk of heart failure.

Cheers to that!!

The Study

According to the study’s authors, evidence already exists linking moderate amounts of alcohol consumption to reducing the risk of developing heart conditions, but this research goes farther to show how moderate alcohol consumption can reduce the risk of developing heart failure specifically. Moderate consumption for this study is defined as one drink per day or 14g of alcohol (one small glass of wine, less than pint of beer, and less than a shot of liquor).

The Findings

The researchers, for a period of 24-25 years, looked at nearly 15,000 men and women in early to middle age (45-64) who drank no more than seven drinks per week. This rate of consumption was associated with a 20% lower risk of men and 16% of women developing heart failure in the future when compared to people who did not drink at all.

According to the study’s authors, the difference between men and women was associated with the differences in how men and women metabolize alcohol. Additional findings included an increased risk of death of 47% for men and 89% of women who reported consuming 21 or more drinks a week at the start of the study.

Heart failure describes a state when the heart can no longer pump blood around the body. Heart failure is often the result of heart attacks, high blood pressure, heart disease, heart valve problems, an irregular heartbeat, viral infections, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, consuming recreational drugs, and the side-effects of radiotherapy treatment for cancer.

Journal Reference:

Goncalves, A., Claggett, B., Jhund, P.S, Rosamond, W., Deswal, A., Aguilar, D., Shah, A. M., Cheng, S., Solomon, S.D. Alcohol consumption and risk of heart failure: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. European Heart Journal, 2015; DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehu514