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Saturday, August 22, 2009

Alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors in older lifelong wine drinkers: The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging
Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases Article in Press 19 August 2009

A protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the cardiovascular system has consistently been reported, but limited evidence has been produced on the association of alcohol with metabolic factors in the elderly.

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between different levels of current alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors in a representative sample of elderly Italian men, mainly wine drinkers.-

Our results indicated in elderly moderate wine drinkers a noticeably safe metabolic, inflammatory and glycemic profile that might balance higher blood pressure, leading to a net benefit. These findings however need to be placed in relation to the known adverse social and health effects of heavy drinking.




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