Monday, January 19, 2009

ODD BINGE CAN DAMAGE MODERATE DRINKERS HEART

That New Year's Eve party or that drinking binge every now and then may be damaging to your heart even if your over-all consumption of alcoholic beverages is moderate, a study says.

The finding is an important warning in light of recent evidence that mild drinking may help prevent heart disease, said researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Their report was presented to the American Heart Association scientific meeting in Miami Beach, Fla.

"While there seems to be a protective effect of alcohol at moderate levels, it is probably countered by drinking occasional large amounts," said Dr. Harvey Gruchow, the biostatistician who headed the study.

"Our study suggests this 'binge effect' is independent of total consumption. The crucial variable is not so much how much they're drinking as the difference between what they usually drink and the amount they drink on these special occasions."

Several recent studies have shown that moderate drinking seems for unknown reasons to be associated with a lower risk of heart disease.

These studies, however, have measured only the over-all consumption of alcohol, not drinking habits, Gruchow said.

To see whether drinking habits mattered, researchers examined the drinking history of 225 men who underwent a procedure called coronary angiography.

This is used to measure the amount of blockage in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. A measure of the severity of heart disease, it is commonly used to tell whether heart patients need surgery.

Ninety-six of the men were classified as "binge" drinkers, meaning that every now and then - less often than once a week, they drank more than usual, and that this amount exceeded the equivelent of five ounces of pure alcohol.

Five ounces is the amount of alcohol in about eight mixed drinks, or six beers, or a bottle and a half of wine.

The researchers found that those who drank much more on a "binge" night than on a normal night tended to have more heart disease.

For example, men on a binge who drank three times their normal amount had 50 percent more heart blockage than those whose binges involved drinking only about twice the normal amount.

A similar relationship prevailed for other drinking levels.

Despite studies linking moderate drinking to low heart risk, doctors do not advise non-drinkers to imbibe, since drinking has other health risks, including esophageal cancer and liver disease.

Gruchow said his study reiforces the earlier ones but adds the warning that "moderate drinking" means regular drinking of small amounts, not occasional drinking of large amounts.

THE TORONTO STAR

DON SAYS: In other words, it makes much more sense to drink NOTHING AT ALL!

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