Study finds benefits of frequent drinking

By Janet McConnaughey

Scientists know drinking can prevent heart attacks, but new research shows that how often you imbibe is a lot more important than what or how much.

As little as half a drink every other day is enough to reduce the risk, regardless of whether it is beer, red wine, white wine or liquor, the study indicates.

Whether you drink it with your meal or at some other time also appears irrelevant.

"It was a surprise that — almost regardless of other factors associated with drinking — frequency of use seemed to be what reduced the subsequent risk of a heart attack," said Dr. Kenneth Mukamal of Harvard University Medical School, who led the study.

Those who drank at least three days a week had about one-third fewer heart attacks than did nondrinkers.

And it made almost no difference whether the drinking consisted of half a drink or four. Those who imbibed only once or twice a week had only a 16 percent lower risk of a heart attack.

Some studies have indicated that alcohol raises the level of "good" cholesterol and also thins the blood, warding off the clots that cause heart attacks. But alcohol breaks down fairly rapidly in the body and its effects on red blood cells are short-lived, Mukamal said.

Mukamal speculated that regular, moderate drinking is beneficial because it helps keep the blood thinned.

The study was published in today's New England Journal of Medicine.