Moderate alcohol consumption could lower risk of stress-related cardiovascular problems, claims new study

Alcohol consumption in light to moderate quantities may reduce the brain's stress activity and also lower the risk of heart diseases, claims new research.

The researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital found that alcohol, when consumed in moderation, reduced the stress signalling in the brain which further appeared to account for a significant reduction in heart disease risk, as per a report published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Monday.

“We are not advocating the use of alcohol to reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes because of other concerning effects of alcohol on health,” senior author and cardiologist Ahmed Tawakol, co-director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital said in a statement.

“We wanted to understand how light to moderate drinking reduces cardiovascular disease, as demonstrated by multiple other studies. And if we could find the mechanism, the goal would be to find other approaches that could replicate or induce alcohol’s protective cardiac effects without the adverse impacts of alcohol,” he said.

Researchers, by understanding the mechanism further, aim to find other approaches that could replicate or induce alcohol’s protective cardiac effects without its adverse impacts.

Though previous epidemiological studies have found that consuming alcohol in light to moderate quantities can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, it isn't yet clear whether alcohol was the factor generating cardiovascular benefits, or if light/moderate drinkers’ health behaviours or socioeconomic status protected their hearts.

Study findings

The research amassed and analysed data from more than 50,000 individuals enrolled in the Mass General Brigham Biobank with the study divided into two parts.

In its first part, the research evaluated the relationship between light to moderate alcohol consumption and cardiovascular events after adjusting for genetic, clinical, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors. The researchers found out what the previous studies showed, that alcohol if consumed in light to moderate quantities, did reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease events.

In the second part, they evaluated brain imaging of 754 individuals to find out the effect of light, and moderate alcohol consumption on resting stress-related neural network activity which showed reduced stress signalling in the amygdala, the region in the brain associated with stress responses.

“We found that the brain changes in light to moderate drinkers explained a significant portion of the protective cardiac effects,” Tawakol said.

“When the amygdala is too alert and vigilant, the sympathetic nervous system is heightened, which drives up blood pressure and increases heart rate, and triggers the release of inflammatory cells,” Tawakol said. “If the stress is chronic, the result is hypertension, increased inflammation, and a substantial risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.”

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