Latest scientific news 04 December 2013

Female moderate wine drinkers may lower their risk for hip fractures

Postmenopausal women who prefer wine, experience fewer hip fractures compared to women who are non-drinkers, past drinkers and those with preferences for other alcoholic beverages.

Hip fractures are a major public health problem worldwide, contributing to a decreased quality of life and premature death. Most hip fractures occur in women and older age significantly increases the risk of fracture. Several studies already have looked at the relationships between alcohol and hip fracture but have generally focused on total alcohol consumed and not the type of alcoholic beverage. Researchers from StanfordUniversity carried out a longitudinal cohort study with 115,655 post-menopausal women aged 50-79 years. After adjustment for potential confounders, they found that alcoholic beverage preference was strongly inversely correlated with hip fracture risk. Women who preferentially consumed wine had a lower risk of hip fracture compared to non-drinkers, past drinkers, and those with other alcohol preferences. The authors caution that their results refer to older women who are largely light drinkers.

Kubo J et al, Preference for wine is associated with lower hip fracture incidence in post-menopausal women, BMC Women’s Health 2013,13: 36