Hello,
Alcohol is a myocardial toxin and generally, patients are advised to stop drinking alcohol post-
myocardial infarction.
However several prospectively performed cohort studies have demonstrated that drinkers of moderate amounts of ethanol are 40% to 70% less likely to manifest coronary artery disease or
ischemic stroke when compared with nondrinkers or heavy consumers.
Moderate alcohol intake is associated with a reduced risk of myocardial infarction (MI).
Moderate consumption exerts several beneficial effects, including the following:
(1) an increase in the serum concentrations of HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-I;
(2) inhibition of platelet aggregation;
(3) a decreased serum fibrinogen concentration;
(4) increased antioxidant activity (from the phenolic compounds and flavonoids contained in red wine);
(5) anti-inflammatory effects (with lower concentrations of white blood cells and
C-reactive protein); and
(6) improved
fibrinolysis resulting from increased concentrations of endogenous
tissue plasminogen activator and a concomitant decrease in endogenous plasminogen activator inhibitor activity.
One pint of Guinness a day is considered moderate. These are the pros and cons. Rest is up to you.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Take care
Regards,
Dr Tushar Kanti Biswas, Internal Medicine Specialist