DALLAS, Dec. 4 -- While prior studies suggest that moderate
amounts of alcohol consumption may reduce one's risk for having
a stroke, a new report says that wine -- not beer or spirits --
may have the most protective effect. In this month's Stroke:
Journal of the American Heart Association, Danish researchers
report on a 16-year study of 13,329 people. Those who said they
drank wine on a weekly basis -- about one to six glasses per
week -- had a 34 percent lower risk of stroke than those who
never or hardly ever drank wine. Those who said they had wine
daily had a 32 percent reduction in risk. Those who drank beer
or spirits did not have any statistically significant reduction
in stroke risk. "Beer, wine and spirits may have different
effects on the risk of cardiovascular disease, indicating that
compounds other than ethanol may be of importance," says the
study's lead author Thomas Truelsen, M.D., of the Institute of
Preventive Medicine, Copenhagen. The researchers say that one
reason for wine's protective e