Alcohol use and cardiovascular mortality:
Alcohol use reduces risk of cardiovascular mortality with light to moderate use. The ideal amount of alcohol consumption in order to obtain benefits of reduced risk for a number of disease states appears to be 2-4 drinks per day for men and 1-2 drinks per day for women. (4)
Drinking alcohol has a protective effect on cardiovascular disease according to a study in Australia. Men who consumed light-to-moderate amounts of alcohol at 3–4 or 5–7 days per week had decreased risks of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke compared with men who consumed alcohol less than once per week. Moderate alcohol drinking decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease by about 25%, which is linked to a decrease in the total cardiovascular disease burden in Australia of 4.7%. In Australia, 34% of the total number of deaths in 2008 were from cardiovascular disease and in 2003, it was 18% of the overall burden of disease (coronary heart disease and stroke contributed over 80% of this burden). (5)