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According to the research, those who consumed moderate
amounts of alcohol showed a lower risk than non-drinkers of developing
lower extremity arterial disease (LEAD), a condition in which the blood
vessels in the leg become damaged.
Several previous studies have already shown that light
to moderate drinkers have lower risks of heart disease than non-drinkers.
But not much has been done to study the effect of alcohol consumption
and LEAD.
In people suffering with LEAD, the inner lining of the
arterial blood vessels in the legs becomes damaged, potentially leading
to a build-up of cholesterol, which can impede blood flow and harden the
tissue, creating atherosclerosis. As LEAD progresses, the blocked arteries
can cause discomfort, cramps or pain in the hips, thighs or calves, especially
while exercising.
'LEAD affects about 10 to 15 percent of older adults
and is increasingly recognized to have consequences beyond the classic
pain with walking,' says alcohol-and-health researcher Dr. Kenneth Mukamal,
M.D., of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, who led the study.
Data relating to 5,635 participants who took part in
an earlier Cardiovascular Health Study, conducted from 1989 to 1999 examining
Medicare-eligible adults living in four different U.S. areas was pulled
out.
The subjects had reported their weekly drinking habits,
and were classified as consuming less than one drink per week, one to
13 per week or 14 or more drinks per week. During the course of the study,
the volunteers underwent leg-artery examinations by clinicians using a
standard test that measures blood pressure at the ankle both before and
after a five-minute treadmill workout.
A total of 172 cases of LEAD were documented during the
study. Mukamal and his team then compared those cases to the drinking
habits of the study's participants.
The researchers found that those who drank one to 13
servings of alcohol per week were 44 percent less likely to develop LEAD
than non-drinkers. Those who drank less than one drink per week or 14
drinks per week or more showed a similar LEAD risk as non-drinkers.
Dr. Curt Ellison, professor of medicine and public health
at Boston University Medical School, who first gained prominence when
he appeared on '60 Minutes' with Prof Serge Renaud when 'The French Paradox'
was coined, is not surprised with the results. He has been involved in
several studies which have demonstrated the positive benefits for heart
with moderate wine drinking. Talking of the latest Mukamal study he said,
"These findings support many other papers suggesting that moderate
alcohol intake may lower the risk of vascular disease at sites other than
the heart and the brain."
Mukamal noted that LEAD and the potential preventive
measures are only now coming in the radar screen of the medical research
community; the number of cases being diagnosed is on the rise. As has
become a standard clause with such studies, he cautioned that more research
is needed among people with LEAD.
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