Moderate drinking may cut seniors' disability risk

By Amy Norton, Reuters

Healthy older adults who have up to one or two drinks per day may be less likely to develop physical disabilities over time, a new study suggests.

Photograph by: David Silverman, Getty Images

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Healthy older adults who have up to one or two drinks per day may be less likely to develop physical disabilities over time, a new study suggests.

The study, which followed nearly 4,300 older U.S. adults, found that healthy, moderate drinkers were less likely to develop problems with walking, daily chores and other physical tasks over five years.

The benefit was not seen, however, among men and women who were in poorer health at the study's start.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, add to the list of potential health benefits attributed to modest drinking, including a lower risk of heart disease and a longer life.

They suggest that the equivalent of a drink -- a 12-ounce beer or a standard glass of wine, for example -- on most days of the week might help stall physical impairments, according to Dr. Alison A. Moore of the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the study investigators.

The reasons are not certain, but one possibility is that the benefit comes from a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, Moore told Reuters Health. Read more...