An occasional drink with dinner could reduce the risk of having a stroke, according to a new study.
Researchers found that light to moderate drinkers can lower their risk by about 20 percent compared with teetotalers. The study, which appears in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, was the biggest ever to examine the link between alcohol and stroke.It showed that as little as a single glass of wine or beer per week can significantly reduce stroke risk. The study involved more than 22,000 men, but one of the researchers said the results could also apply to women.
However, the study's authors stressed that it would be unwise for doctors to advise patients who don't drink to suddenly start or for those who drink small amounts to begin consuming more heavily.
The study found no added protection from stroke by drinking more than lightly or moderately.
"Absolutely it has benefits, but it also has harm," said study co-author Julie E. Buring, an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Researchers warned of liver damage, the dangers of driving while drunk and the risks to fetuses of drinking while pregnant. What's more, there are other ways to reduce stroke risk, such as quitting smoking or lowering blood pressure.
Numerous studies have shown that modest drinking reduces the risk of heart disease. But until now, the evidence of an effect on strokes has been less convincing.
The American Heart Association estimates that 600,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke each year. It is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of serious, long-term disability.
Earlier studies were criticized because they simply compared drinkers to nondrinkers. This latest study examined varying levels of alcohol intake.
It found that between one drink a week and one a day reduces the risk, and the lesser amount was about as good as the higher one.
There were not enough heavy drinkers in the study to look at the effects of more than one a day, but the heart association warns that drinking to excess can raise blood pressure and lead to a stroke.
Researchers attribute alcohol's benefits to its ability to increase the amount of HDL, or good cholesterol, in the bloodstream. HDL cholesterol helps keep arteries clean. Researchers also say alcohol can break up blood clots.
The Physicians' Health Study, which began in 1982, studied male doctors between the ages of 40 and 84. They were tracked for about 12 years. In all, the study subjects reported 679 strokes.
Small amounts of alcohol were shown to decrease the risk of ischemic stroke, which is the most common type and is caused by clots that reduce blood flow to the brain. Drinking had no effect on the risk of a rare hemorrhagic stroke, which is caused by sudden bleeding in the brain.
While Buring said the findings may apply to women as well, she stressed that light to moderate alcohol intake for a woman is defined as about one drink per day vs. approximately two drinks per day for a man. Also, research has suggested that drinking may raise the risk of breast cancer in women.
"For any individual, the use of alcohol to reduce risk of stroke should be discussed with one's physician in order to make the healthiest decision," Buring said.
Dr. Thomas Pearson, a cardiologist at the University of Rochester and author of the heart association's guidelines on alcohol use, was equally cautious.
"We know that there are substantial diseases related to alcohol," he said. "We have this cardiovascular benefit, but this should not prompt us to be putting up billboards up on the interstate.