Regularly drinking alcohol – whether a few times a month or several times a week – may actually help lessen the risk of death from heart attack by up to 35 percent, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Cardiology.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston surveyed over 1,200 women who had been hospitalized following a heart attack, asking them about their lifestyle and drinking habits, and then continuing to follow-up on their mortality rates.
Of those women who said they abstained from alcohol, 44 percent died within the following ten years, compared to only 25 percent of those who said they were light drinkers and 18 percent of heavy drinkers.
"One thing that was interesting was that we didn’t see differences among different beverage types," noted lead researcher Joshua Rosenbloom, remarking on the fact that beer, wine and spirits all showed the same benefits. "The most recent evidence suggests that it’s the alcohol itself that’s beneficial."