WINE IS HEALTHIER THAN BEER, STUDY SAYS

Drinking a few glasses of wine a day is more of a lifesaver than drinking
beer, perhaps because of cancer-fighting compounds in wine, according to
the findings of a study of more than 36,000 middle-aged Frenchmen.

The study showed that moderate wine drinkers had a death rate from heart
attacks that was 45 percent to 48 percent lower than those who abstained
from drinking. Red wine particularly contains antioxidants that may help
prevent heart disease.

Beer drinkers were found to have a 42 percent lower rate of fatal heart
attacks than nondrinkers, but not as low as the wine drinkers. But the wine
drinkers in the study also had a significantly lower risk of dying from all
causes than either beer drinkers or nondrinkers, when adjusted for such
factors as age and smoking.

Previous studies have shown that drinking one to three glasses of wine
daily can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And as with other
health studies involving alcohol, the researchers were careful to issue a
cautionary note.

"Because of the potential health hazards of any alcoholic beverage, our
results suggesting that a few glasses of wine may have salutary effects
should not be interpreted as an incentive to drink," Wrote the French
study's authors, Serge Renaud and Roger Salamon, of the National Institute
for Health and Medical Research in Bordeaux, and Gerard Siest and Rene
Gueguen, of the Center of Preventive Medicine in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy.

"If you drink alcoholic beverages," they wrote, "do so in moderation, with
meals and when consumption does not put you or others at risk."

While drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancer, the researchers said,
substances found in wine such as resvaratrol may more than compensate by
inhibiting development of the disease.

The study is in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a journal published by
the American Medical Association.