RESEARCH - Wine Keeps Women's Heartbeats Healthy

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Wine Keeps Women's Heartbeats Healthy

Wine, but Not Beer or Liquor, May Help Hearts Keep a Good Beat

By Warner

WebMD Medical News Reviewed By , MD

on Monday, February 14, 2005

Feb. 14, 2005 -- Drinking wine may help women fight heart disease by keeping

their hearts beating to a healthy rhythm.

Although many studies have shown that drinking wine can reduce the risk of

heart disease, researchers are still trying to figure out how wine does

that.

In this study, researchers found that women with heart disease who drank

wine had increased heart rate variability, which is a marker of the changes

in time intervals between heartbeats. Decreased heart rate variability has

been linked to a higher risk of heart disease and death.

Researchers say together with wine's healthy effect on cholesterol levels,

this effect on heart rate variability may be another reason why drinking

wine reduces the risk of heart disease and heart-related death.

Wine Better Than Beer?

In the study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Heart,

researchers studied 102 women under age 75 who had survived a heart attack

or heart surgery to clear blocked arteries. During their recovery period,

the participants were asked to record how much and what kind of alcohol they

drank.

One year later, researchers used a heart monitor to measure the women's

heart activity over a 24-hour period as they went through their normal daily

activities.

The study showed that heart rate variability was highest among women who

drank at least half a glass of wine per day and lowest among women who drank

no alcohol at all.

Researchers also found drinking beer or liquor didn't significantly affect

heart rate variability.

The study showed that wine's beneficial effects on heart rate variability

remained significant even after accounting for other risk factors associated

with heart disease, such as age, weight, and smoking.

SOURCE: Janszky, I. Heart, Feb. 15, 2005; vol 91: 314-318.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/100/105851.htm

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