“Study Shows Low to Moderate Alcohol Consumption Reduces Inflammation and Pain”

ALREADY long claimed that you can
drink your pain And a new study shows that the old saying holds true.

People consuming “low to moderate” amounts of alcohol each week experienced less inflammation – a major cause of aches and pains.

Seven glasses of wine or a pint of beer each week seems to be the sweet spot, the researchers found.

Experts think booze may work by relieving people of stress, which is known to be a big driver of inflammation.

The team behind the discovery admits that alcohol is responsible for “substantial disease” worldwide.

But they say the findings suggest liquor, in lower amounts, “may actually be beneficial” for thwarting inflammation.

The NHS recommends that Britons drink no more than 14 units per week, around six pints of beer or 10 small glasses of wine, and drink for three days or more.

Drinking more than this over many years raises blood pressure and cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. It is also linked to liver disease, cancer and brain damage.

Experts from the universities of Cambridge and Sydney analyzed data on 3,101 Britons.

All had reported their alcohol consumption between the ages of 34 and 42, the age when the disabling back pain tends to start.

Participants also had blood tests, when they were 46 years old, to monitor levels of C-reactive protein – a marker of inflammation in the body.

High levels are a sign of inflammation in blood vessels, tissues and organs and a marker of musculoskeletal diseases, such as arthritis and back pain.

Inflammation is also a sign of asthma and inflammatory bowel disease and can increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Alcohol use itself, in excessive amounts, has been shown to increase the risk of inflammation in the body and brain, while drinking too much for a long time has also been linked to high blood pressure, cancer and brain damage.

Results published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Addiction showed that the lowest levels of C-reactive protein were among low-to-moderate drinkers, who drank an average of seven drinks per week, compared with those who didn’t drink and those who had 30 drinks per week.

But they note that more research is needed to confirm their findings.

Lead study author Rachel Visiontay, a researcher at the University of Sydney, said harmful drinking was responsible for substantial disease globally.

“However, several studies show that, compared to abstinence, lower levels of drinking may actually be beneficial for inflammation,” he said. (red)