A study reported in the 931216 New England Journal of Medicine that regular consumption of small amounts of alcohol boosts HDL cholesterol levels, as well as lowers the risk of stroke from blood clots, but binge drinking may boost LDL cholesterol (HDL prevents heart disease by cleansing the blood vessels of fatty buildups).

      Dr. Michael Gaziano, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston: "We think we have found the mechanism by which alcohol may protect against heart disease."

      Drs. Gary Friedman and Arthur Klatsky, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Oakland, CA: "There seems little doubt that alcohol exerts a protective effect against coronary heart disease."

[Reservatrol (which may also lower cholesterol), quercetin and tannic acid found in red/purple/white grape juice and wine may dilate arteries and thus help fend off high blood pressure and vascular   spasms that trigger heart attacks and strokes. Red grape juice and the red wine, Cabernet sauvignon appear to be the most effective of wines.
Phenol compounds in red wine (also responsible for its red color and flavor) were found in a Lancet-published study to be as effective in preventing oxidation of cholesterol as vitamin E.
        Dr. David Fitzpatrick, U. of South Florida Coll. of Med.: "Since doing this research, I'm more apt to have a glass of grape juice or red wine." ]

      According to a survey by INSERM (the French equivalent of the National Institutes of Health), of 22 studies on moderate drinking, 19 found that alcohol was protective.
[William Castelli, medical director of the famous Framingham heart study (emphasis his):
"...another consistent dietary factor among many cultures with low heart disease is that, for the most part, THEY ARE NOT HEAVY MILK DRINKERS..."]

      Three to six drinks/week of whiskey, beer or wine can boost estrogen (estradiol - a form commonly taken in pill form) in post-menopausal women, decreasing the risk of heart disease and osteoporosis.
      The key appears to be LOW, regular alcohol consumption. Estrogen reaches the highest level at three to six drinks per week, then plateaus.
      Alcohol triggers the conversion of androgens (male sex hormones found in small amounts in healthy women) into estrogens.
[Judith Gavaler, Ph.D., associate research professor of medicine, U. of Pittsburgh / Journal: 9202 Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.]

      In 1992, the Centers for Disease Control and the Florida Dept. of Health and Rehabilitative Services published a study (in response to an oyster-caused outbreak of hepatitis A) in the July journal Epidimiology, that compared alcohol-comsuming oyster eaters, with those who didn't imbibe while chowing down.
      Of 51 people who became infected with the virus, 92 percent said they had consumed no alcohol or beer. Those who had whiskey or cocktails were less likely to become infected.
      Their theory is that the alcohol actually helps block the virus from entering the bloodstream. The alcohol in a *single* glass of wine or cocktail was enough to reduce risk of infection, REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF OYSTERS EATEN (emphasis mine).

      Physicians at the Stanford U. Medical Center reported in an '88 issue of the journal Pain, that alcohol is as effective a painkiller as morphine. Dr. Kenneth Woodrow:
      "Two cocktails provided equivalent pain relief to taking more than 11 milligrams of morphine. That's a significant clinical dose. We're not talking about something for a headache. If you had a severe injury. like a crushed hand, that's what you might get."

      Dr. Castelli feels that the maximum safe dose of alcohol is two drinks/day (2 12 oz. cans of beer, two shots of whiskey, two four ounce glasses of wine).
      However, a study by Dr. Eric Rimm, that involved 44,059 men (Lancet - 91/08) found that among 27,717 men who were never diagnosed as suffering from heart disease or related illness, those who drank between a half and 2 and 1/2 drinks per day reduced the risk of heart disease by 26 percent. Further:
      "We found a dose response, with the more alcohol consumed, the more reduced the risk for heart disease."
      23% of the men in Rimm's study drank less than once a month, 26.4% drank more than one drink/day, and 3.5%, 3-4 drinks/day.
[The male volunteers in the study were all health professionals, aged 40 -75, and included doctors, dentists and veterinarians.]

      Dr. Norman Kaplan, director of the hypertension division at the U. of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas:
      "For the 85 percent of people who can drink without abusing it, our message should be keep it up, luxuriate in the likely benefits that are going to be obtained."


Caveats

(1) Folks taking the antacids Zantac and Tagamet in combo w/just 1 drink can increase their blood alcohol levels anywhere from 34 - 92%.

(2) In 1990, volunteers who took two extra-strength aspirin tablets an hour before drinking (1 glass of wine) had blood alcohol levels 30% higher than w/ alcohol alone.
Surprisingly, Dr. Surendar Kilam of Lethridge Regional Hopsital in Alberta, Canada reported in '88 that the stomach linings of regular aspirin takers were significantly less inflamed if the individuals drank a weak alcoholic beverage prior to taking the aspirin.
[Increased prostaglandin was thought responsible for inflammation control.]

(3) Women with breast cancer should avoid more than three drinks at one sitting. Those w/ breast cancer and a blood alcohol content of 0.15%, had twice as many lung tumors as those given no alcohol.
Animals w/ a 0.25% level had *8x* more tumors. The cancers spread more easily because the alcohol temporarily supressed the immune system.

(4) A study in the 900923 Lancet reported that Japanese males who drink beer daily are 12x more likely to develop cancer of the sigmoid colon (at the end of the intestines) than those who don't drink alcohol at all (17-year study of 265,000 Japanese).

(5) Diabetics and high blood pressure sufferers can aggravate their conditions via alcohol consumption.

(6) The mutated tryptophan hydroxylase gene found in some people can result in low levels of the neurotransmitter, serotonin. People with the mutated gene may run a high risk of suicide when they drink excessively.  
Of 36 alcoholics who attempted suicide in a related National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) study, 34 had the mutated form of the tryptophan hydroxylase gene.
Markku Linnoila, NIAAA scientific director:
    "In the normal population this mutated gene probably has little meaning. It is only in the context of alcoholism or depression that the gene may bring out suicidal tendencies or impulsive violence."