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Moderate drinkers are less likely than teetotalers or
heavy drinkers to die of heart disease and other causes. The protective
effect is magnified if they also take plenty of exercise, scientists have
found.
A weekly consumption of up to 14 drinks, classified as
a glass of wine, a bottle of beer or a single measure of spirits, offers
the greatest health benefits, the 20-year study of almost 12,000 Danish
men and women has concluded, as a part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study.
The healthiest were those who were moderate drinkers
and moderately or very physically active. Their risk of dying from heart
disease was about half that of inactive nondrinkers.
Martin Grønbaek, of the University of Southern
Denmark in Copenhagen, who led the research, said: "Our study shows
that being both physically active and drinking a moderate amount of alcohol
is important for lowering the risk of both fatal ischemic heart disease
(IHD) and death from all causes. For both men and women, being physically
active was associated with a significantly lower risk for both fatal IHD
and all-cause mortality than being physically inactive, and drinking alcohol
was associated with a lower risk of fatal IHD than abstaining.
"A weekly moderate alcohol intake reduced the risk
of all-cause mortality among both men and women, whereas the risk among
heavy drinkers was similar to nondrinkers."
In the study, published in the European Heart Journal,
a team led by Professor Grønbaek, Berit Heitmann and Jane Østergaard
Pedersen, analysed data collected by the Copenhagen City Heart Study,
a long-running research cohort assembled in the 1970s to investigate cardiovascular
health.
Ms Østergaard Pedersen said: "The lowest
risk of death from all causes was observed among the physically active
moderate drinkers and the highest risk among the physically inactive non
and heavy drinkers." Moderate drinking and exercise reduce blood
pressure, which has significant health benefits
DelWine would like to warn its readers to drink within
these reasonable limits, as excess alcohol can have negative impact on
liver, blood pressure etc- Editor
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