Moderate alcohol consumption appears to benefit seniors, as it may reduce risk of physical disabilities, according to a new study in the January issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

 

The study belongs to a team of researchers led by Dr. Arun S. Karlamangla, an associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. For the study, they looked at data on 4,276 people, 92 percent of them white, with a mean age of 60 years.

 

The participants were classified as light to moderate drinkers if they consumed less than 15 drinks per week and less than five drinks per drinking day (for women – less than four).

 

The study found that light to moderate healthy drinkers had 25 percent lower chances of ending in disabilities such as walking, dressing, eating, running errands or doing chores.

 

“If you start out in good health, alcohol consumption at light to moderate levels can be beneficial. But if you don’t start healthy, alcohol will not give you a benefit,” Dr. Karlamangla said.

 

Seven percent of the participants died during the study and 15 percent became disabled over five years.

 

This is not the first time alcohol has been found to be beneficial for people’s health. A Scandinavian study released last year showed that the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis was 50 percent lower for participants who drank the equivalent of five glasses of wine per week compared with those who drank the least.

 

Also, Denmark researchers, reporting in the European Heart Journal, said that having up to 2 and a half bottles of wine a week can lower the risk of premature death in both men and women, as opposed to those who are heavy drinkers or who abstain. Moderate drinkers are less likely than both heavy drinkers and teetotalers to die of heart disease.