STUDY SAYS LIGHT DRINKING MAY HELP LIVER

DALLAS (Reuters) - Social drinking may actually be good for your liver
rather than damaging, according to preliminary results of new research
on rats presented Monday.

The study found that the equivalent of one or two drinks a day
appeared to help the damaged livers of lab rats repair themselves,
according to a paper by Dr. Gerald Minuk of the University of
Manitoba, Canada.

``This finding raises the possibility that 'social drinking' may not
have an adverse effect on the natural history of acute or chronic
liver disease,'' Minuk wrote in a summary of his report to the annual
meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease
(AASLD) in Dallas.

Heavy alcohol use by the rats hindered the liver's ability to recover
from damage, as expected, while moderate alcohol use appeared to have
a neutral effect, according to the study.

The findings are preliminary and may not translate from rats to
humans, Minuk cautioned.

``As liver disease specialists, we certainly don't want to provide the
population with an excuse to abuse alcohol or somehow damage their
health,'' he told Reuters by telephone from his Manitoba office.

But if the results are found to apply to humans, Minuk said, it could
mean that ``in certain clinical conditions where patients do not have
alcohol abuse problems, one or two drinks per day of alcohol might be
considered beneficial rather than harmful to the liver.''

Alcohol abuse has long been known as a cause of liver damage and
disease, such as cirrhosis.

Minuk said his group launched the research because of the resurgence
of moderate drinking based on widely publicized studies that suggest a
daily glass or two of wine can help prevent heart disease and strokes.

Researchers had not previously studied what health effects this
moderate drinking can have on the liver, which is where the body
metabolizes alcohol, Minuk said.

In their study, Minuk's group tested the effects of heavy, moderate
and light alcohol consumption on rats that had had 70 percent of their
livers surgically removed.

They found a partial regeneration of the liver in the rats that
consumed light amounts of alcohol, roughly the equivalent of one or
two drinks a day for a human.

Moderate alcohol consumption, about the same as two to three drinks a
day, appeared to have no effect either way while heavy drinking
equivalent to four drinks or more a day inhibited liver repair in the
rats.