<p>Do white and red wine, the latter touted for its many health benefits, really stave off heart disease? The jury is still out on that one.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"It's complicated," says Juergen Rehm, director of social and epidemiological research at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), who conducted the meta-analysis into the link between alcohol consumption and heart disease.<br /><br />"While a cardioprotective association between alcohol use and ischaemic heart disease exists, it cannot be assumed for all drinkers, even at low levels of intake," says Rehm, the journal Addiction reports.<br /><br />Ischaemic heart disease (reduced blood supply to heart) is a common cause of illness and death in the Western world, according to a CAMH statement.<br /><br />Symptoms include angina, heart pain, and heart failure. Based on 44 studies, the analyses used 38,627 ischaemic heart disease events (including deaths) among 957,684 people.<br /><br />"We see substantial variation across studies, in particular for an average consumption of one to two drinks a day," says Rehm. The protective association may vary by gender, drinking patterns, and the specific health effects of interest.<br /><br />Even at low levels, alcohol intake can have a detrimental effect on many other disease outcomes, including on several cancers.<br /><br />"Even one drink a day increases risk of breast cancer, for example," says Rehm. "However, with as little as one drink a day, the net effect on mortality is still beneficial. After this, the net risk increases with every drink."<br /><br />"If someone binge drinks even once a month, any health benefits from light to moderate drinking disappear."<br /><br />Binge drinking is defined more than four drinks on one occasion for women, and more than five for men.<br /><br />"Findings from this study support current low-risk drinking guidelines, if these recognize lower drinking limits for women."<br /></p>
<p>Do white and red wine, the latter touted for its many health benefits, really stave off heart disease? The jury is still out on that one.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"It's complicated," says Juergen Rehm, director of social and epidemiological research at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), who conducted the meta-analysis into the link between alcohol consumption and heart disease.<br /><br />"While a cardioprotective association between alcohol use and ischaemic heart disease exists, it cannot be assumed for all drinkers, even at low levels of intake," says Rehm, the journal Addiction reports.<br /><br />Ischaemic heart disease (reduced blood supply to heart) is a common cause of illness and death in the Western world, according to a CAMH statement.<br /><br />Symptoms include angina, heart pain, and heart failure. Based on 44 studies, the analyses used 38,627 ischaemic heart disease events (including deaths) among 957,684 people.<br /><br />"We see substantial variation across studies, in particular for an average consumption of one to two drinks a day," says Rehm. The protective association may vary by gender, drinking patterns, and the specific health effects of interest.<br /><br />Even at low levels, alcohol intake can have a detrimental effect on many other disease outcomes, including on several cancers.<br /><br />"Even one drink a day increases risk of breast cancer, for example," says Rehm. "However, with as little as one drink a day, the net effect on mortality is still beneficial. After this, the net risk increases with every drink."<br /><br />"If someone binge drinks even once a month, any health benefits from light to moderate drinking disappear."<br /><br />Binge drinking is defined more than four drinks on one occasion for women, and more than five for men.<br /><br />"Findings from this study support current low-risk drinking guidelines, if these recognize lower drinking limits for women."<br /></p>
