Health Happenings

Beer in Moderation Good for the Heart

A recent study of Czech men revealed that moderate beer drinking (up to two pints per day) can actually reduce the risk of heart disease. This discovery supports earlier studies that showed moderate alcohol consumption reduces heart disease risk by lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure. The new research confirms that the protective effect is due to ethanol rather than other specific substances in different drinks.

As with studies involving other types of alcoholic drinks, this study suggested that the positive effects of moderate beer drinking were lost in men who drank twice a day or more.
 

Java Jitters May Prevent Parkinson's Tremors

According to a recent study, coffee drinkers have a significantly lower risk of getting Parkinson's disease—in fact, the more caffeine, the better. "Hopefully, this will lead to more research on caffeine and its effect on areas of the brain affected by Parkinson's disease," said G. Webster Ross of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department Medical Center in Honolulu.

Ross’s team discovered 10.5 Parkinson's cases for every 10,000 person-years among those who did not drink coffee. That rate dropped to 5.5 cases among people who had four to eight ounces per day, and to 1.7 cases for coffee addicts who consumed more than 28 ounces daily.