Moderate to High Physical Activity and Alcohol Intake Helps lowering Risks of Heart Diseases

Physically active and moderately alcohol drinkers have minimal risks for dying of heart diseases and other related problems. A recently concluded research study found this to be more probable than in case of people who do not drink at all. The research findings indicate that people who are neither drinking nor physically active bear 30% to 49% more such risks.

Findings of this research have been published in the “European Heart Journal “on January 9, 2008.It is for the first time that a research aims to define the combined effects of leisure-time physical activity and weekly alcohol consumption upon the risk of fatal ischaemic heart disease, a form of heart disease characterized by a reduced blood supply to the heart, and other related reasons. Professor Morten Grønbæk, Director of Research of the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark in Copenhagen, and Professor Berit Heitmann, Director for Research of the Institute of Preventive Medicine at Copenhagen University Hospitals, jointly monitored this research.

Researchers in Denmark collected information from a group of 11,914 Danish men and women below the age of 20. Information included health related issues like physical exercise and alcohol consumption for a period between 1981 and 1983.

Researchers found that in a follow up spanned for 20 years 1,242 cases were reported for fatal ishaemic heart disease (IHD) and 5,901 were the deaths from all other reasons.

Professor Morten Grønbæk said, “Being both physically active and drinking a moderate amount of alcohol is important for lowering the risk of both fatal IHD and death from all causes. A weekly moderate alcohol intake reduced the risk of all-cause mortality among both men and women, whereas the risk among heavy drinkers was similar to non-drinkers”.

Jane Østergaard Pedersen, a research assistant at the National Institute of Public Health said,” physical activity can reverse some of the adverse health effects associated with alcohol abstention. People who did not drink but whose physical activity was moderate or high had a lower risk of IHD than the inactive non-drinkers“.

Researchers classified the levels of physical activity in to three different groups. The “Physically Inactive “group included people spend less than two hours every week with light activities such as reading, watching television and cinema. The “Low Activity “group involves people with 2-4 hours activity per week such as walking, cycling, and gardening. The “Moderate to High Activity “group constituted people who spend more than four hours every week and do rigorous exercise like brisk walking, fast cycling, running and sports causing perspiration and exhaustion.

Similarly the researchers also classified the Alcohol intake. For the drinkers the weekly intake was tested on the parameter of one drink corresponding to one bottle of beer, one glass of wine and one unit of spirits. For “Non-Drinkers”, it was less than one drink a week, and for “Moderate Drinkers” the parameter was an intake between 1-14 drinks a week. For “Heavy Drinkers” the parameter was set to drinking 15 or more drinks every week.

Ms Østergaard Pedersen said: “The lowest risk of death from all causes was observed among the physically active moderate drinkers and the highest risk among the physically inactive non- and heavy drinkers.”

The research concluded that a combination of moderate to high levels of physical activity and alcohol intake help lowering the risks of fatal IHD and deaths from other reasons.

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