By: Thomas Pickering, MD, DPhil, FRCP, Director of Integrative and Behavioral Cardiology Program
of the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in many countries, and high blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors. The effects of drinking alcohol on stroke have been controversial. It tends to raise blood pressure, but it may also provide some protection against heart disease.

A study of 22,0000 US physicians (the Physicians’ Health Study) has been going on since 1982. None of them had had a stroke at the start of the study, and they reported their drinking habits as ranging from none to two or more drinks a day. They were followed for 12 years.

Compared to men who had less than one drink per week, those who drank up to two drinks a day had a 20 per cent lower risk of having a stroke. The benefit was apparent with as little as one drink per week. The effects of drinking more than two drinks a day were not evaluated.

Doctor’s comments

This study provides convincing evidence that drinking one to seven drinks a week reduces the risk of having a stroke. Most of the strokes observed in this study were 'ischemic' strokes, caused by a blocked artery. Other studies have reported that heavy drinking may increase the risk of hemorrhagic strokes (caused by a bleed into the brain), but that was not observed here.

Where it was published