Middle-age drinkers who consume more than two drinks have higher risk of stroke: Study

A new study regarding alcohol may put a damper on your mood as researchers found that people in their 50s and 60s who consumed more than two alcoholic beverages daily have a 34 percent higher risk of stroke compared to lighter drinkers.

In a study of 11,644 middle-aged Swedish twins who were followed  for 43 years, researchers compared the effects of an average of more than two drinks daily ("heavy drinking") to less than half a drink daily ("light drinking").

The team of researchers added to their findings that heavy drinkers had increased stroke risk in their mid-life compared to well-known risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes.

Previous studies have warned that alcohol affects stroke risk, however this is the first study to pinpoint differences with age.

"We now have a clearer picture about these risk factors, how they change with age and how the influence of drinking alcohol shifts as we get older," said Pavla Kadlecová, M.Sc., a statistician at St. Anne's University Hospital's International Clinical Research Center in the Czech Republic.

In order to obtain the data, researchers analyzed results from the Swedish Twin Registry of same-sex twins who answered questionnaires in 1967-70. All twins were under age 60 at the start. By 2010, the registry yielded 43 years of follow-up, including hospital discharge and cause of death data.

Researchers then sorted the data based on stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and other cardiovascular incidents.

Almost 30 per cent of participants had a stroke. They were categorised as light, moderate, heavy or non-drinkers based on the questionnaires.

Among identical twin pairs, siblings who had a stroke drank more than their siblings who hadn't had a stroke, suggesting that mid-life drinking raises stroke risks regardless of genetics and early lifestyle.

"We know that the more you drink, the worse off you're going to be. Whether no alcohol versus a little bit of alcohol is any different, that's tough to say," said Dr. Shazam Hussain, head of the Cleveland Clinic stroke program, according to NBC News. "I'm a little hesitant to just recommend anything particularly about drinking."

The study is published in the journal Stroke.