Women who drink heavily are at greater risk of cardiac problems than men, according to the latest research.
A Japanese Collaborative Cohort Study found that heavy alcohol consumption had different effects on men and women in terms of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mortality.
In the study, men who consumed 46 grams or more of alcohol per day were somewhat less likely to die from coronary heart disease compared with their non-drinking peers. In women, by contrast, drinking this amount increased mortality from heart disease substantially.
In both sexes, however, light-to-moderate drinking seems to reduce mortality from total cardiovascular disease, according to the report in the July 10th online issue of Stroke.
To look for possible gender-related differences in the effects of alcohol consumption, Dr. Hiroyasu Iso, from Osaka University in Japan, and colleagues conducted a lifestyle/health survey of 34,776 men and 48,906 women and then followed them for a median of 14.2 years.
During the follow-up, 1628 subjects died from stroke and 736 died from coronary heart disease.
In men, heavy alcohol consumption, relative to non-use, increased mortality from total stroke by 48%, hemorrhagic stroke by 67%, and ischemic stroke by 35%, but cut mortality from coronary heart disease by 19%. Light-to-moderate drinking (0.1 to 45.9 g/day) cut mortality from total cardiovascular disease by 12%.
In women, heavy drinking increased the risk of death from total stroke by 92%, hemorrhagic stroke by 61%, ischemic stroke by 143%, and coronary heart disease 310%. Light-to-moderate drinking reduced mortality from total cardiovascular disease by 25%.
The results suggest that "an amount of alcohol that may be beneficial for men is not good for women at all," Dr. Iso said in a statement.