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Alcohol May Reduce Risk of Diabetes in Women

Aired June 10, 2003 - 11:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: There's news for women who like to have a glass of wine at the end of every day. A new study says it may lower your risk of getting diabetes.
Medical correspondent Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here with details in our "Daily Dose." Looks like you got the pinstripe memo as well.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I did, Fredricka -- and this is a -- we should celebrate just a little bit because this new study found that light to moderate drinking in young women was associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes as compared to nondrinkers. Now, this study, which is Phase 2 of the Nurses' Health Study comes from researchers at Harvard, and looked at over 100,000 healthy young women age 25 to 42, and followed them for 10 years, and they took note of their lifestyle factors, including how much alcohol they drank. Now, in this study, a drink was defined as a can of beer, a glass of wine, or a shot of liquor, which is about 14 grams of alcohol. And after about ten years of follow up, they found the amount of alcohol consumed was important. Compared to teetotalers, women who had about half a drink up to two drinks per day were much less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and this is often called adult onset diabetes.

Women who drank half a drink up to one drink per day decreased their risk by a third. Women who drank one to two drinks per day decreased their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent, almost two-thirds.

Now, the type of alcohol also seemed to matter. The risk reduction was most apparent in women who drank beer or wine. In fact, drinking over 30 grams of liquor, which is only about two drinks, increased the risk of getting diabetes about two and a half times as compared to the nondrinkers.

WHITFIELD: So they primarily focused on type 2 diabetes, not type 1, how come?

FRYHOFER: Well, this was only looking at type 2 diabetes, and this was the only type they looked at. Remember that type 2 diabetes -- type 1 is the one you get that is the most serious. It's the one that occurs when the body doesn't produce any insulin. People with type 1 diabetes have to take the insulin shots. Type 2 is the most common, and accounts for up to 95 percent of cases of diabetes, and it occurs when the body can't make enough insulin or can't use it properly. This is sometimes called insulin resistance, and it seems that light to moderate alcohol intake can make the body more sensitive to insulin, and that could possibly explain the findings in the study. WHITFIELD: So many people are going to walk away from this thinking they should be drinking to prevent diabetes.

FRYHOFER: No. There are things you can do, better ways, diet and exercise. With diet and exercise, you can prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes by up to 58 percent through these lifestyle changes. Reducing your weight by 5 to 10 percent and exercising just 30 minutes a day can cut your risk of getting diabetes in half. Don't forget the downsides of alcohol. Too much alcohol can actually raise your blood pressure, can pack on those pounds, and for women drinking more than two drinks a day can actually increase your risk of getting breast cancer by as much as 30 percent.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

FRYHOFER: So we still have to exercise.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

FRYHOFER: And watch your diet.

WHITFIELD: Yes, no kidding, exercise is the key because there is a lot of sugar in wine. A lot of us don't think of that.

FRYHOFER: If you want to have that glass of wine to relax, feel better about it.

WHITFIELD: It is OK right now. All right. Thanks so much. We're all relaxing. Dr. Fryhofer, good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 10, 2003 - 11:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: There's news for women who like to have a glass of wine at the end of every day. A new study says it may lower your risk of getting diabetes.
Medical correspondent Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here with details in our "Daily Dose." Looks like you got the pinstripe memo as well.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I did, Fredricka -- and this is a -- we should celebrate just a little bit because this new study found that light to moderate drinking in young women was associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes as compared to nondrinkers. Now, this study, which is Phase 2 of the Nurses' Health Study comes from researchers at Harvard, and looked at over 100,000 healthy young women age 25 to 42, and followed them for 10 years, and they took note of their lifestyle factors, including how much alcohol they drank. Now, in this study, a drink was defined as a can of beer, a glass of wine, or a shot of liquor, which is about 14 grams of alcohol. And after about ten years of follow up, they found the amount of alcohol consumed was important. Compared to teetotalers, women who had about half a drink up to two drinks per day were much less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and this is often called adult onset diabetes.

Women who drank half a drink up to one drink per day decreased their risk by a third. Women who drank one to two drinks per day decreased their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent, almost two-thirds.

Now, the type of alcohol also seemed to matter. The risk reduction was most apparent in women who drank beer or wine. In fact, drinking over 30 grams of liquor, which is only about two drinks, increased the risk of getting diabetes about two and a half times as compared to the nondrinkers.

WHITFIELD: So they primarily focused on type 2 diabetes, not type 1, how come?

FRYHOFER: Well, this was only looking at type 2 diabetes, and this was the only type they looked at. Remember that type 2 diabetes -- type 1 is the one you get that is the most serious. It's the one that occurs when the body doesn't produce any insulin. People with type 1 diabetes have to take the insulin shots. Type 2 is the most common, and accounts for up to 95 percent of cases of diabetes, and it occurs when the body can't make enough insulin or can't use it properly. This is sometimes called insulin resistance, and it seems that light to moderate alcohol intake can make the body more sensitive to insulin, and that could possibly explain the findings in the study. WHITFIELD: So many people are going to walk away from this thinking they should be drinking to prevent diabetes.

FRYHOFER: No. There are things you can do, better ways, diet and exercise. With diet and exercise, you can prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes by up to 58 percent through these lifestyle changes. Reducing your weight by 5 to 10 percent and exercising just 30 minutes a day can cut your risk of getting diabetes in half. Don't forget the downsides of alcohol. Too much alcohol can actually raise your blood pressure, can pack on those pounds, and for women drinking more than two drinks a day can actually increase your risk of getting breast cancer by as much as 30 percent.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

FRYHOFER: So we still have to exercise.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

FRYHOFER: And watch your diet.

WHITFIELD: Yes, no kidding, exercise is the key because there is a lot of sugar in wine. A lot of us don't think of that.

FRYHOFER: If you want to have that glass of wine to relax, feel better about it.

WHITFIELD: It is OK right now. All right. Thanks so much. We're all relaxing. Dr. Fryhofer, good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com