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Alcohol helps prevent strokes, but only by drinking modest amounts. While there's great enthusiasm these days for alcohol consumption as protection against heart disease, some wowsers persist in accusing alcohol of causing strokes. Some people just don't like fun. Anyway a group in New Orleans - a city not known for its sobriety - has reviewed the world literature on stroke and alcohol to try to come closer to the truth. They brought together the findings from about 160 studies published over the last 30 odd years. The combined results suggested that alcohol consumption of one to two drinks a day actually protects against the commonest form of stroke, which is where a clot blocks an artery in the brain. Heavy drinkers weren't so lucky. People consuming 5 drinks a day had about double the risk of a brain haemorrhage and about a 65% increased risk of a stroke where there's an arterial blockage. Five standard drinks by the way, isn't as much as you'd think. The message here is that for stroke protection you have to keep that alcohol intake at a very modest level indeed. After all some of that booze is to precious to spill it isn't it?
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