Thursday, January 09, 2003

Timing is everything So today the New England Journal of Medicine comes out with a Harvard study on the impact of alcohol on men’s health. They concluded that “Among men, consumption of alcohol at least three to four days per week was inversely associated with the risk of myocardial infarction. Neither the type of beverage nor the proportion consumed with meals substantially altered this association. Men who increased their alcohol consumption by a moderate amount during follow-up had a decreased risk of myocardial infarction.” The Harvard study evaluated 38,077 male health professionals. Interestingly, in the New York Times article Zuger mentions out that “moderate drinking also comes with some health risks, such as a slightly increased risk of breast cancer in women.” These risks apparently did not apply to women over age 50. Yet in a study of more than 80,000 American women, those who drank moderately had only half the heart attack risk of those who did not drink at all, even if they were slim, did not smoke and exercised daily. Moderate drinking was about as good for the heart as an hour of exercise a day. Not drinking at all was as bad for the heart as morbid obesity. 10:19:07 PM    comment []

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