NEW DELHI (PTI) Here is cheering news for those with a lingering love for alcohol but troubled at the same time by qualms over thought of their weak hearts,

Some U.S and European researchers claim to have found an association between moderate alcohol consumption, particularly red wine, and reduced risk of heart disease,

Dr. Curtis Ellison, an Epidemiologist and professor at the school of medicine at Boston university, says that dietary factors, including moderate alcohol consumption, can play an important role in increasing the ‘’good”* high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels in the blood, a known factor in reducing the risk of heart disease.

“The moderate, regular consumption of wine is the norm for many societies, and these tend to be the cultures that have the lowest rates of heart disease,”’ according to Ellison, who has been working with French researchers in a study of the dietary habits and coronary heart disease rates in various nations.

The researchers have also been exploring reasons for the so-called ‘*French paradox”’: the low incidence of coronary heart diseases among the french population, despite a lifestyle that includes a high fat diet, smoking and little exercise, says indo-us newsletter science update.

Meanwhile the French, specifically, have a significantly lower death-rate from he an disease, less than half of the rate in the United States, despite high-fat diets and other contradictory lifestyle habits, according to the researcher.

In one of the most extensive studies wo date, researchers at Harvard University published findings showing that, after adjustment for other known coronary risk factors, increasing alcohol intake of up to 50 grams daily was inversely related to the incidence of heart disease.

The study, which involved 44,000 Americans between the ages of 40 and 75 years, reported that moderate and regular consumption of wine with food appeared to have the most protective effect for consumers.

Elision says one of the reasons for wine’s apparent protective effect is its ability to help prevent the formation of blood clots.

Elevated levels of hdl, or  ‘good cholesterol”’ are found in moderate drinkers, and that hdl is known to reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis and heart disease by clearing cholesterol from the arterial walls and aiding its elimination from the body, the researcher claims

Article extracted from this publication >> June 10, 1994