Wednesday, September 8, 2010

After a heart attack, keep drinking you will live longer

Within moderation that is.
This bold statement is supported by evidence in the June 15, 2010 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology. The researchers followed 325 patients (men and women) recovering from a heart attack. 84% of these patients continued to be moderate drinkers and 16% decided to quit. Moderation was listed as a minimum of 2 to 4 times a month with 1-4 drinks per occasion. This works out to be about 1 drink a day; binge drinkers were not included in this study. It need not be repeated, but I have mentioned that binge drinking is bad for you. Oddly the quantity of alcohol consumed was not mentioned. 2-3 of these 1 liter mugs might not qualify as health promoting.


After three years, the moderate drinkers experienced better physical functioning than those that stopped drinking. Drinkers had fewer episodes of chest pain, fewer rehospitalizations, and felt better overall. Drinkers were less likely to die! 10% of non-drinkers died after 3 years compared to only 6% of moderate drinkers. Check out the cool graph that proves it.

So there you go; don't be a quitter. Just remember everything in moderation.

No comments: