Middle-aged women who enjoy a couple of glasses of wine a day tend to enjoy a healthier old age, according to two new US studies using data from the landmark Nurses' Health Study started in 1976, and concluding that moderate drinking can lead to successful ageing with less risk of stroke.
Results from US studies suggest that concerns about the disadvantages of drinking may have been exaggerated, with evidence that steady consumption of alcohol over a lifetime may have some health benefits. Although a limited amount of wine a day has been long associated with better heart health, particularly in men, the overall impact on wellbeing has seldom been assessed, according to the report by IANS.
Two studies by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University in Boston analysed from the data-base of more than 200,000 women and found alcohol consumption of almost 14,000 women who lived to the age of 70. It was analysed from mid-life to find out what factors contributed to successful survival.
Harvard medical instructor Qi Sun, leader of the study, found that 1,499 women reached 70 without any major diseases such as cancer and heart disease, and had no physical impairments or memory problems.
Studying the levels of drinking at the age of around 58, he found women who had one or two drinks most days of the week had a 28 percent better chance of "successfully surviving" to old age, compared with non-drinkers. He found that women who drink most days were likely to be healthier than those who drank one or two days a week, which could also include binge drinking.
The second study analysed the risk of stroke in 73,450 women in the same Nurses' Health Study who did not have either heart disease or cancer when enrolled. Altogether 1,822 strokes were recorded, according to research presented at the meeting of American Heart Association in Chicago. Any level of drinking was linked to a lower risk of stroke.
Based on hundreds of previous studies and discussions with various doctors at the international health and wine conventions, followed by reinforcements like this one, delWine maintains its advice of five years- men may drink 2-3 glasses of wine a day (preferably red), and women should restrict the daily drinking to 1-2 glasses. If you don’t drink any alcohol, you do not need to start only for the health benefits. If you are a hard liquor drinker, you should consider switching to wine-Editor |
