MORE GOOD NEWS ! This little piece of scientific study popped up on Vinisphere this morning. Ya Hee ! Sorry. Er – Yee Ha! I particularly like the conclusion- “more studies are needed to verify this result”. Where I come from that means “please keep drinking”. Wine of course.
Résumé from Dutch research : M T Streppel, M C Ocké, H C Boshuizen, F J Kok and D Kromhout Correspondence to: martinette.streppel@wur.nl
Background : Light to moderate alcohol intake lowers the risk of cardiovascular mortality, but whether this protective effect can be attributed to a specific type of beverage remains unclear. Moreover, little is known aboutthe effects of long-term alcohol intake on life expectancy.
Methods : The impact of long-term alcohol intake and typesof alcoholic beverages consumed on cardiovascular mortalityand life expectancy at age 50 was investigated in the Zutphen Study, a cohort of 1373 men born between 1900 and 1920 and examined repeatedly between 1960 and 2000. Hazard ratios (HRs) for total alcohol intake and alcohol from wine, beer and spirits were obtained from time dependent Cox regression models. Life expectancy at age 50was calculated from areas under survival curves.
Results : Long-term light alcohol intake, that is (20 gper day, compared with no alcohol, was strongly andinversely associated with cerebrovascular (HR 0.43, 95%CI 0.26 to 0.70), total cardiovascular (HR 0.70, 95% CI0.55 to 0.89) and all-cause mortality (HR 0.75, 95% CI0.63 to 0.91). Independent of total alcohol intake, long term wine consumption of, on average, less than half a glass per day was strongly and inversely associated with coronary heart disease (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.89),total cardiovascular (HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.86) and all-cause mortality (HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.87). These results could not be explained by differences in socioeconomic status. Life expectancy was about 5 years longer in men who consumed wine compared with those who did not use alcoholic beverages. Conclusion : Long-term light alcohol intake lowered cardiovascular and all-cause mortality risk and increased life expectancy. Light wine consumption was associated with 5 years longer life expectancy; however, more studies are needed to verify this result.