This article is about a Harvard study that demonstrated evidence for a
genetic cause of the health benefits from moderate alcohol consumption.

Those with the gene variation that enables slower metabolism of alcohol
derive greater health benefits from moderate consumption. 

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Study Shows Gene Variety Provides Health Benefits for Moderate Drinkers 

Reduces risk of heart attack and boosts good cholesterol levels 

Boston, MA - Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham
and Women's Hospital have found that moderate alcohol consumption among
people who have a specific version of a gene that metabolizes alcohol have a
greater reduction in risk of heart disease and higher HDL (good cholesterol)
levels. The findings appear in the February 22 issue of the New England
Journal of Medicine, www.nejm.com. 

The team studied the influence of a gene that codes for alcohol
dehydrogenase type 3 (ADH3), which breaks down alcohol. An inherited
difference in this gene yields two forms, one that works faster than the
other. Among the study participants, those who consumed alcohol moderately
had a lower risk of heart disease. However, among the moderate drinkers,
those with the gene that breaks down alcohol more slowly, had higher levels
of good cholesterol (HDL) and a greater reduction in risk for heart disease,
compared to participants with the gene for the faster enzyme

Lisa Hines, lead author and graduate student in the Department of
Epidemiology at HSPH said about the findings, "The study results support
that it is the alcohol in alcoholic beverages that is responsible for the
reduction in risk of heart disease, not other ingredients in alcoholic
beverages or lifestyle factors associated with alcohol consumption." 

Participants for the research were drawn from the Brigham and Women's
Hospital-based Physicians Health Study, which has followed the health of
more than 22,000 male physicians since 1982. The researchers studied 396
patients who had suffered a heart attack and 770 men who had not. In
addition, the researchers conducted an independent study of the influence of
the ADH3 gene on HDL levels in 325 post-menopausal women from the Nurses
Health Study. They observed similar findings among the women.

David Hunter, co-author and Professor of Epidemiology at HSPH said,
"Deciphering the human genome sequence has demonstrated that many genes
contain variants, such as those present in the ADH3 gene. This study
illustrates the importance of accounting for both genetic and lifestyle
variation to better understand the causes of common diseases such as heart
disease."

The study, "Genetic Variation in Alcohol Dehydrogenase and the Beneficial
Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Myocardial Infarction," was supported by a
grant from the National Institutes of Health.