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A new study indicates that women who drink more than eight alcoholic beverages a week are at greater risk of developing heart disease than those who drink less.
Those who binge-drink take even more risks with their heart health, the study indicated.
The American College of Cardiology's study aimed to identify links between alcohol intake and coronary heart disease.
At the Kaiser Permanente health care organization in Northern California, researchers used data from over 432,000 people ages 18 to 65 who received care from that health system and did not have a history of heart disease and stroke.
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Among those individuals, roughly 243,000 were men and 189,000 were women, with an average age of 44, according to the American College of Cardiology.
The study examined patient intake information collected during primary care visits, when patients could indicate either low, moderate or high weekly alcohol intake levels, during the years 2014 and 2015. Researchers then used follow-up information from the four years that followed.
Dr. Jamal Rana, a cardiologist based in California and the lead author of the study, told Fox News Digital that it's becoming increasingly popular today to believe that drinking alcohol is good for the heart — but "evidence is challenging that notion."
The lead researcher of a new study told Fox News Digital, "A lot more awareness is needed that alcohol use can be a factor in heart disease risk, and that asking about alcohol use should be part of routine health assessment." (iStock)
"I think a lot more awareness is needed that alcohol use can be a factor in heart disease risk, and that asking about alcohol use should be part of routine health assessment," he said.
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In the study, a low intake level of alcohol — as completed by patients during their self-assessment — was considered to be 1-2 drinks a week for both men and women.
"I wasn’t expecting these results among women in this lower age group … We usually see increased risk for heart disease among older women."
A moderate intake was considered to be 3-14 drinks a week for men, while it was 3-7 drinks a week for women, per the American College of Cardiology.
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A high intake level was considered to be 15 or more drinks a week for men, and 8 or more drinks for women.
Those who did not drink alcohol were not included in the study — and researchers also examined the patients' ages, smoking habits, physical activity levels and additional cardiovascular risk factors as shown on the patient forms.
The new study found that women who enjoyed over eight drinks a week were more likely to develop heart disease than those who drank considerably less than that. (iStock)
Over the four-year follow-up period, the researchers found that 3,108 individuals among those studied were diagnosed with coronary heart disease — and the risks increased with higher levels of alcohol consumption.
The women who reported a high alcohol intake level of 8 or more drinks per week had a 33%-51% higher risk of developing heart disease, compared to those with a low alcohol intake level.
Researchers also studied binge-drinking.
They found that the greatest difference was that women in that category were two-thirds more likely to develop heart disease, as compared to those with a moderate alcohol intake level.
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Rana told the American College of Cardiology that women have a higher risk of heart disease even without binge-drinking — but that these results were surprising.
"I wasn’t expecting these results among women in this lower age group because we usually see increased risk for heart disease among older women," he said in a press release.
The researchers used patient self-assessment intake forms. So the patients could have under-reported their alcohol intake, said the lead researcher — and if so, they most likely were more conservative with their answers. (iStock)
He told Fox News Digital, "There has been an increasing prevalence of alcohol use among young and middle-aged women, as women may feel they're protected against heart disease until they're older."
He added, "But our study shows that even at that age group, women who drink more than the recommended amount of one drink per day or tend to binge-drink are at risk for coronary heart disease."
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Rana also noted that women's bodies process alcohol differently than men's, "due to pharmacokinetic and physiologic differences."
In terms of the study's limitations, Rana pointed out that researchers were using a patient self-assessment intake form.
The study results will be presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in early April.
So patients could have under-reported their alcohol intake, he said.
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The study, considered to be preliminary, is not yet published in a medical journal. It was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Rana is scheduled to present the study results on habitual alcohol intake and risk of cardiovascular disease on April 6 at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in Atlanta, Georgia.
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