When it comes to your lungs, a couple of drinks a day may help
keep the doctor away, researchers report.
Though considerable evidence has mounted that a daily dose of
alcohol helps the heart, this study suggests the same may be true
for lung function -- even for smokers.
"This is the biggest study that's ever looked at the possible
protective effect of alcohol involving the lung," noted study
author Dr. Stanton T. Siu, chief of pulmonary medicine at Kaiser
Permanente Hospital in Oakland, Calif.
"We found that if you drank less than two glasses of alcohol per
day of wine, beer, or hard liquor that you had much less likelihood
of developing obstructive airways disease, which includes asthma
and emphysema," he said.
"You do seem to get some benefit if you drink three to five
drinks per day," added Siu. "But it wasn't as good if you drank
just a little. And if you drank six or more, it actually had a bad
effect. It made your lung function worse."
Siu was to present his findings October 24 at the American
College of Chest Physicians annual meeting, in Chicago.
Previous studies have indicated that other dietary interventions
-- such as consuming vitamin D supplements -- might offer some
measure of protection against developing lung health problems.
For the current study, Siu and his colleagues analyzed the
health records of almost 178,000 patients living in northern
California. All had undergone exams between 1964 and 1973 as
members of the same local health plan.
Exam questionnaires completed at the time recorded their smoking
and drinking habits, as well as their lung function histories.
According to the surveys, 61 percent said they had already
experienced some kind of cardio-respiratory illness.
An almost identical percentage said they drank less than two
alcoholic drinks per day, while eight percent consumed three to
five drinks daily. Just over two percent said they drank six or
more glasses per day. A little more than 21 percent said they
consumed no alcohol at all.
As part of their exams, all the patients also underwent a range
of pulmonary function tests (PFT) designed to gauge how well a
person inhales, exhales and transfers oxygen from the lungs into
the bloodstream.
Stacking PFT results alongside drinking rates, Siu's team found
that so-called "light to moderate drinkers" -- those who did not
abstain altogether but consumed less than two glasses of alcohol
per day -- were the least likely to have problems with lung
function.
The relationship between moderate drinking and healthy lungs
appeared to hold up regardless of smoking habits or a previous
experience of lung and/or heart disease.
The survey records had not broken down alcohol consumption
according to type of alcohol consumed, so it's not possible to tell
from this study if any category of drink is healthier for the lungs
than another.
Siu said light drinking's protective effect roughly translates
to a 20 percent reduction in the risk for developing lung disease.
The link between alcohol use and lung health held steady across all
ethnic groups, all age groups, and for both men and women, he
added.
"There was a little more of a positive impact for women," Siu
said, "but not a huge difference. And, in fact, when we looked at
three to five drinks per day, then the men did better than the
women."
A second study, also presented at this week's meeting, found
that vitamins might help keep lungs healthy, too.
In this instance, a team of researchers from Bangladesh, led by
Kazi S. Bennoor from the National Institutes of Diseases of Chest
and Hospital, followed a group of 200 healthy smokers between the
ages of 30 and 50 for two months. They divided the participants
into four groups: those told to consume 10,000 IUs daily of vitamin
A; those taking 500 mg daily of vitamin C; those taking 200 mg
daily of vitamin E; and those taking all three of the vitamins in
combination.
All the patients had smoked cigarettes for at least 11
years.
Lung performance tests were conducted at the start of the study,
at the two-month mark (when all vitamin supplementation was
stopped), and six months following vitamin cessation. A fifth group
of 50 healthy non-smokers who took no vitamin supplementation was
also similarly examined for lung function.
Although none of the smokers achieved lung health comparable to
that of the non-smoking group, Bennoor's team found that vitamin
supplementation did significantly improve lung function in all four
smoking groups.
No one vitamin appeared to positively impact lung health any
more than another, but the group taking all three vitamins seemed
to derive the biggest benefit.
However, six months after going off a vitamin regimen, the lung
health of all the smokers reverted back to levels that were below
those seen after two months of supplementation.
It's possible that antioxidant supplementation might help
improve lung function, the team speculated, but such improvements
are not retained when supplementation stops.
Dr. Neil Schachter, professor of pulmonary medicine and medical
director of the Respiratory Care Department at Mount Sinai Medical
Center, New York City, was a bit cautious on the results of both
studies.
"These are interesting studies," he said. "But, first of all,
there is simply not that much literature on alcohol and lung
function. So, yes, there is this thought that one or two glasses of
alcohol is good for your heart and too much is not good for your
health in general. And I guess their findings go along with that
general statement. But, nevertheless, I'd say the jury is still
out."
"On the other hand, there's a lot of literature on vitamin
supplementation as it relates to chronic lung disease," Schachter
added. "There is a lot of evidence that diets loaded with what are
considered healthy nutrients -- fruits, grains, those kind of
things -- are associated with better lung health than those that
are not. But attempts to supplement diets with vitamins in order to
improve lung health have not been terribly successful. And this
vitamin study was very, very small."
"So, while I understand that certainly people would much rather
make themselves well with diet than they would with medication,
it's important to recognize that this is very hard research to do,"
Schachter said. "So far, the attempts to sort of pluck out the
ingredients that we think are the keys ones haven't been very
successful. Much more work is needed," he added.
(Agencies via China Daily October 25, 2007)