Myocardial Infarction

High-risk drinkers who substantially reduce their alcohol use can lower their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) despite not completely abstaining, according to study findings published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. CVD encompasses a range of conditions involving the heart or blood vessels, and is the leading cause of death in the US. It is also one of many negative health outcomes associated with heavy drinking and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Reductions in drinking can be defined using World Health Organization (WHO) ‘risk drinking levels’, which classify drinkers into ‘very high’, ‘high’, ‘moderate’ and ‘low’ risk categories based on their average daily alcohol consumption. Previous research has shown that a reduction of two or more levels (for example, from ‘very high’ to ‘moderate’) can lower the risk of multiple health issues, but did not assess the impact on CVD specifically. The latest study has examined associations between reductions in WHO risk drinking