Cardiovascular System
A meta-analysis of 34 studies found a reduced risk of mortality from coronary heart disease in men who drank 2 - 4 drinks per day and women who drank 1 - 2 drinks per day. A meta-analysis of randomized trials found that alcohol consumption in moderation decreases serum levels of fibrinogen, a protein that promotes clot formation and increases levels of tissue type plasminogen activator, an enzyme that helps dissolve clots. The serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation and predictor of CHD (coronary heart disease) risk, are lower in people who drink moderately than those who abstain from alcohol suggesting that alcohol consumption in moderation might have anti-inflammatory effects. In addition to its psychotropic properties, alcohol has anticoagulation properties similar to warfarin. Additionally, thrombosis is lower among moderate drinkers than teetotalers.
Despite epidemiological evidence, some criticize the idea of recommending alcohol for health benefits. A doctor at the World Health Organisation stated that recommending moderate alcohol consumption for health benefits is "ridiculous and dangerous". There have been no randomised controlled trials that have demonstrated cardiac benefits of alcohol. Due to the risks of abuse, dependence, and adverse effects, alcohol should never be recommended for cardiac benefits as a substitute to well-proven measures, such as a good diet, exercise or pharmaceutical drugs. It has been argued that the health benefits from alcohol are at best debatable and may have been exaggerated by the alcohol industry. Alcohol should be regarded as a recreational drug with potentially serious adverse effects on health and should not be promoted for cardio-protection.
Read more about this topic: Long-term Effects Of Alcohol
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“UG [universal grammar] may be regarded as a characterization of the genetically determined language faculty. One may think of this faculty as a ‘language acquisition device,’ an innate component of the human mind that yields a particular language through interaction with present experience, a device that converts experience into a system of knowledge attained: knowledge of one or another language.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)