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news.A glass of wine in the evening may not be as beneficial to one's health as previously thought, according to a report in The Lancet medical journal.
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While a number of studies published in the 1970s and 1980s indicated that small to moderate consumption of alcohol may help protect against heart disease, scientists at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, have suggested that these studies were flawed and that any positive association could easily be due to other factors that were not considered.
Rod Jackson at the university’s faculty of medical and health sciences points to a study earlier this year of 200,000 US adults, which indicated that 27 of 30 cardiovascular risk factors were significantly more prevalent in non-drinkers than in light to moderate drinkers.
In fact, the evidence of heart protection is more convincing for heavy drinkers, although the health problems associated with such heavy drinking outweigh any positive effect.
“While moderate to heavy drinking is probably coronary-protective, any benefit will be overwhelmed by the known harms,” the report said.