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Moderate Alcohol Use Decreases Cardiovascular Risk In Older Women

Moderate alcohol consumption - one or two drinks per day - decreases cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women by up to 13 percent.

"Moderate consumption of alcohol decreased low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, apolipoprotein B and triacylglycerol concentrations and increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-1 concentrations in postmenopausal women," United States researchers say.

"These observations are consistent with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. It was shown previously that a 0.26 mmol/L increase in HDL cholesterol in women is associated with a 32 percent to 42 percent decrease in the risk of coronary artery disease.

"Applying this risk estimate to the magnitude of lipid changes observed in the current study could indicate that consumption of one drink per day potentially decreases the risk by 4 percent to 5 percent, and consumption of two drinks per day potentially decreases the risk by 10 percent to 13 percent."

Researchers from the US Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland; George Washington University Medical Centre in Washington, DC and the US National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland say knowing the effect of alcohol on cardiovascular risk is important because risk increases after menopause.

They measured the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on lipids and lipoproteins in 51 menopausal women. Participants consumed no alcohol (control group), 15 g (one drink) or 30 g (two drinks) of alcohol per day for eight weeks as part of a controlled diet. This diet provided 15 percent of energy from protein, 53 percent from carbohydrate and 32 percent from fat. Investigators randomised participants' assignments in a crossover design.

"Compared with concentrations after the control diet, plasma LDL cholesterol decreased from 3.45 to 3.34 mmol/L and triacylglycerol from 1.43 to 1.34 mmol/L after 15 g alcohol/d," they report. "There were no additional significant decreases in either lipid after an increase in alcohol intake from 15 g/d to 30g/d.

"Compared with concentrations after the control diet, plasma HDL cholesterol increased non-significantly from 1.40 to 1.43 mmol/L after 15 g alcohol/d but increased to 1.48 mmol/L after 30 g alcohol/d.

"Apolipoprotein A-1 increased significantly and apolipoprotein B decreased significantly after 30 g alcohol/d relative to the concentration after the control diet."

The researchers comment: "These observations are important because HDL cholesterol appears to be a more important determinant of cardiovascular disease risk than does LDL cholesterol in women."

They say the mechanism by which alcohol exerts its effect on blood lipids remains unclear. "Differences in the magnitude of alcohol's effect on lipid profiles between pre- and postmenopausal women may be related to differences in the effect of alcohol on estrogen concentrations."
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2002; 75: 593-599.

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