While many policy makers emphasize the negative effects of alcohol, a recent study found a positive effect. A survey of five beer drinking, Czech districts found an inverse correlation between beer consumption and myocardial infarctions (heart attacks).

The study found that:

• People who drank less than once a month were twice as likely to have myocardial infarctions than those who drank several times a week.

• People who drank daily or almost daily were three times less likely to have myocardial infarctions than those who drank less than once a month and almost two times less likely than those who drank several times a week.

While the study did show the benefits of beer, it also shows the detriments of drinking too much beer. People who drank twice a day or more were just as likely to have myocardial infarctions as those who never drank.

Source: Martin Bobak, Zdenka Skodova, and Michael Marmot, "Effect of beer drinking on risk of myocardial infarction: population based case-control study," British Medical Journal, May 2000.

For Abstract: bmj.com/cgi/content/short/320/7246/1378