Dr.S.Venkatesan MD

“It seems  certain . . . both  zero alcohol  intake and excessive alcohol  confers cardiac risk   “

I stumbled upon  the above   conclusion    from a respectable source*

*This  is from the  famous  INTERHEART  study published in Lancet.

Can it be true ?   What is the proof ?

Consuming  moderate   quantity of  alcohol  reduces  cardiac risk

  Does it make sense  to  skew   this   statement  like this

   . . . Not taking  alcohol   would   be a cardiac  risk  in other wise healthy individual .

Can we  profess  such a reasoning ?  My colleagues call it stupidity ?

If  it is true ,  are we justified  to use  alcohol as  a primary prevention drug ?

Which type  of alcohol we are  talking about ?

I am struggling to get specific answers .

After reading the INTERHEART study , my conviction is  the  “dangerous suggestion”   may indeed  have a significant  quantum of truth !  Readers may share their thinking .

In a country like India where alcohol is considered as a  killer chemical with a huge social stigma ,  it is  blasphemous to suggest  not taking it can be  cardiac  risk factor !

Reference

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2804%2917018-9/abstract#

A. DiCastelnuovo, S. Castanzo, V. Bagnardi, M.B. Donati, L. Iacoviello, G. de Gaetano. Alcohol dosing and total mortality in men and women. Arch Intern Med 166;2006: 2437-2445

R. Femia, A. Natali, A. L’Abbate, E. Ferrannini. Coronary atherosclerosis and alcohol consumption: angiographic and mortality data. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 26;2006: 1607-1612

D.L. Lucas, R.A. Brown, M. Wassef, T.D. Giles. Alcohol and the cardiovascular system. J Am Coll Cardiol 45;2005: 1916-1924