Just half a pint of beer a week increases risk of heart disease – new study

Source: The Telegraph

Henry Bodkin

20 FEBRUARY 2017

Drinking just half a pint of beer a week is enough to stiffen people’s arteries and put them at greater risk of heart disease, a new study has found.

Researchers in the US tracked nearly 4,000 people for 25 years and found that even a moderate intake, also equivalent to half a glass of wine, prematurely aged the circulatory system.

Alcohol is believed to activate enzymes that affect the elasticity of artery walls, interfering with the flow of blood.

Last year the UK’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, triggered criticism after significantly lowering the official safe drinking advice to a maximum of 14 units – roughly six pints of beer – a week.

Even that, however, is significantly higher than the threshold for arterial stiffening indicated by the new study, which was published in the journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers at University College London measured how quickly artificial pulse waves travelled between the main arteries in each participant’s neck and thigh.

The greater the velocity, the stiffer the artery.

They then compared this with data on the participants’ alcohol consumption.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, contributing to nearly one-third of deaths, researchers said.

The UK study defined consistent long-term heavy drinking as equivalent to drinking one serving of alcoholic spirit, half a pint of beer or half a glass of wine per week.

Men were more likely to be heavy drinkers compared with women, but there were twice as many stable non-drinkers and former drinkers among the women than the men.

Dr Darragh O’Neill, who led the study at UCL, said it was still unclear precisely how alcohol impacted arterial health, and acknowledged previous studies had indicated that drinking could increase the amount of “good” cholesterol in the bloodstream.

But he added: “Conversely, heavier alcohol intake may activate certain enzymes that would lead to collagen accumulation, which could, in turn exacerbate the rate of arterial stiffening.”