A new Danish study has verified earlier research finding that moderate alcohol consumption and leisure-time physical activity can lower the risk of fatal heart disease. The study, released in the Jan. 9, 2008 issue of the European Heart Journal, reported that among subjects that did not drink and were not physically active, there was a 30% to 49% higher risk of developing heart disease than among people who drank, exercised or did both.
The Copenhagen City Heart Study, conducted at the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark in Copenhagen, involved 11,914 Danish men and women aged 20 and older.
During an average 20-years follow-up, 1,242 of the subjects died from heart disease, and 5,901 died from other causes. Among both men and women, being physically active, as compared with being physically inactive, was associated with a significantly lower risk for fatal heart disease and with dying from any other cause. Drinking was associated with a lower risk of fatal heart disease than not drinking. Moderate drinking reduced the risk of death among men and women. The researchers did find, however, that among heavy drinkers the risk of dying was similar to non-drinkers.
Among people who were physical active, those who didn't drink had a 30% to 31% higher risk of fatal heart disease compared with moderate drinkers.
Among people who didn't drink but had a moderate or high level of physical activity, their risk of fatal heart disease was reduced up to 33%, compared to those who neither exercised nor drink.
Subjects who had at least one drink a week and were physically active had a 44% to 50% lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who were physically inactive and did not drink.
And, eople who were physically active and had a drink a week had up to a 33% lower risk of dying from any cause, the research group found.
Morten Gronbaek, director of research, and his team concluded: "Physical activity and a moderate alcohol intake can lower the risk of fatal heart disease and all-cause mortality. But neither physical activity alone nor alcohol intake can completely reverse the increased risk associated with physical inactivity and alcohol abstention. Thus, both physical activity and alcohol intake are important to lower the risk of fatal heart disease and all-cause mortality"
Other experts in the field have added commentary concerning these findings. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, sees physical activity and moderate drinking as parts of a healthy lifestyle: "The key messages of this study, ... [are that m]oderate alcohol intake reduces the risk of heart disease. Moderate physical activity does so, too, and even more powerfully. Combine the two, and the benefits are additive."
Katz also added that these lifestyle elements need to be with an overall pattern of healthful living. "Combing regular physical activity with not just moderate alcohol intake, but a healthful dietary pattern, adequate sleep, effective management of stress, and avoidance of tobacco, and you can slash your risk of heart disease and premature death from any cause, dramatically."
Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, also reflecting on the study, added that "[t]his study is consistent with a number of prior studies which have shown that leisure-time physical activity and moderate alcohol consumption are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality." He did warn,however, that until these findings are confirmed in randomized clinical trials, it is premature to make any recommendations regarding the use of alcohol for cardiovascular risk reduction.
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