Drinking more than two alcoholic drinks daily in middle-age may raise your stroke  risk more than traditional factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes , according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. In a study of 11,644 middle-aged Swedish twins who were followed for 43 years, researchers compared the effects of an average of more than two drinks daily ("heavy drinking") to less than half a drink daily ("light drinking"). The study showed that: *Heavy drinkers had about a 34 percent higher risk of stroke compared to light drinkers. *Mid-life heavy drinkers (in their 50s and 60s) were likely to have a stroke five years earlier in life _ of genetic and early-life factors. *Heavy drinkers had increased stroke risk in their mid-life compared to well-known risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes. *At around age 75, blood pressure and diabetes appeared to take over as one of the main influences on having a stroke. Past studies have shown that alcohol affects stroke risk, but this is the first study to pinpoint differences with age. "We now have a clearer picture about these risk factors----how they change with age and how the influence of drinking alcohol shifts as we get older," said Pavla Kadlecova, M.Sc., a statistician at St. Anne's University Hospital's International Clinical Research Center in the Czech Republic. Researchers analyzed results from the Swedish Twin Registry of same-sex twins who answered questionnaires in 1967-1970. All twins were under age 60 at the start. By 2010, the Registry had provided 43 years of follow-up, including hospital discharge  and cause of death data. Researchers then sorted  the data based on strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes and other cardiovascular  incidents. Almost 30 percent of participants had a stroke. They were categorized(......) as light, moderate, heavy or non-drinkers based on the questionnaires. Researchers compared the risk from drinking and health risks like high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking. Among identical twin pairs, siblings  who had a stroke drank more than their siblings who hadn't had a stroke, suggesting that mid-life drinking raises stroke risks regardless of genetics and early lifestyle. The study is consistent  with the American Heart Association's recommended limit of two drinks a day for men and one for women. That's about 8 ounces of wine for a man and 4 ounces for a woman. Regular heavy drinking of any kind of alcohol can raise blood pressure and cause heart failure or irregular heartbeats over time, in addition to stroke and other risks. "For mid-aged adults, avoiding more than two drinks a day could be a way to prevent stroke in later productive age ," Kadlecova said. What does the passage mainly tell us?
People without a stroke can drink more alcohol than those having a stroke in middle age There is a higher possibility that heavy drinkers will have a stroke in middle age Drinking alcohol has been regarded as the most dangerous factor in strokes The amount of alcohol taken by men should be twice than that taken by women.