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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2001;285:1831.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Although many studies have linked moderate drinking with a lower risk of death from heart disease, just how alcohol could produce such a benefit has been unclear. Now, new research by investigators at the University of Ulm Medical Center in Germany suggests that alcohol has anti-inflammatory properties that could be at least partly responsible for this heartfelt benefit (Lancet. 2001;357:763-767).

Previous studies have suggested that moderate alcohol intake plays a role in lowering the risk of heart disease through a variety of mechanisms, including increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The mounting evidence that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease prompted the German researchers to investigate possible associations between alcohol intake and markers of inflammation, including C-reactive protein (CRP).

In the study of 781 men and 995 women aged 18 to 88, the investigators found that moderate drinkers showed fewer signs of inflammation than did nondrinkers or heavy drinkers, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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