title: Alcohol: friend or foe?
abstract: Popular belief has it that alcohol, particularly red wine, protects against atherosclerosis and associated cardio- and cerebrovascular conditions. That presumption motivates this paper, which describes the mechanisms underlying the J-shaped risk curve for alcohol use, with benefits for vascular disease risk at low consumption levels and harmful effects--both directly on the user and indirectly on the bystander--at higher levels. The importance of further exploring alcohol use in patients with cardiovascular risk factors and of intervening to modify non-social use of alcohol to prevent serious adverse health consequences is also addressed.
authors.affiliation: Enrique Cabrera Medical Faculty of the Medical University of Havana. isaric@infomed.sld.cu
authors.forename: Ricardo A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: González
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003462:Cuba / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D014920:Wine