Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Study: Alcohol’s impact on heart, stroke risk differs by gender

Whether drinking alcohol helps or hurts your chances of avoiding heart disease and stroke may depend on your gender as well as how much you imbibe, a new study finds.

The report, which appears online July 11 in the journal Stroke, looked at the drinking habits and lifestyles of more than 80,000 Japanese men and women over a 14-year period. None had previously experienced cancer, stroke or heart disease prior to the study.

Among the findings:

– Men who drank heavily (at least 46 grams of alcohol – roughly four or more standard alcoholic beverages a day) had a 19 percent lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease than nondrinking men. However, these heavy drinkers also had a 48 percent increased risk of death from all types of stroke.

– Women who drank heavily quadrupled their risk of heart disease death compared with women who didn’t drink. Women who drank heavily had a 92 percent higher risk of death from stroke.

– Among women, light drinking (less than 23 grams of alcohol or about two drinks a day) was associated with a 17 percent lower risk of death by heart disease death, but moderate drinking (between 23 grams and 46 grams per day) was linked to an increased risk of 45 percent. Prior studies had suggested that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption might be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in women.

“An amount of alcohol that may be beneficial for men is not good for women at all,” study co-author Dr. Hiroyasu Iso, a professor of public health at Osaka University in Japan, said in an American Heart Association news release.

Iso noted that one limitation of the study is that the Japanese culture has social restrictions against women drinking as they get older, so the women who drank in the study may have had other factors that affected their heart disease and stroke risk.
________
source: St-Cloud Times, http://www.sctimes.com

More Treatment & Detox Articles

5 Dangers Associated with Teenagers and Alcohol Abuse

About Teenagers and Alcohol Abuse According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, approximately 10.4 million people between the age of 12 and 20 had tried alcohol by age 15, and at least fifty percent of teenagers have had at least one full drink. Furthermore, by age 18, more than 70% of teens….

Obstacles that Can Lead to Relapse

About Drug and Alcohol Addiction Millions of Americans suffer from dependency and addiction to drugs and alcohol, and the numbers continue to increase. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, In 2012, approximately 23.9 million people in America, 12 years of age and older, had used an illegal drug or abused a psychotherapeutic medication….

Addictions Treatment Leads to Recovery

Addiction can be treated successfully and recovery is possible. Relapse doesn’t mean that there was a failure in treatment, it’s just a bump in the recovery road. Addictions treatment that encompasses behavioral therapy, counseling and support is the most effective at improving chances of recovery. Millions of people suffer from addiction to drugs, alcohol, food,….

It's easy to fall off the wagon during the holidays

Holiday time is party time, and no holiday is more associated with the drinking of alcohol than New Year’s Eve. For some people, it is especially difficult to cope with party invitations at this time of year. Those who are newly sober, and trying desperately to resist the temptation to relapse, often wonder how to….

Good news, bad news about teen drinking

Aaron Holsinger said he doesn’t like telling his tragic tale, but he really has no choice. Holsinger, now 28, was convicted of negligent homicide after his girlfriend, Gina Erickson, died in a 2001 drunken-driving accident. He was driving the car. He spent six months in jail, will be on probation until he is 41 and….