Dozens of studies involving hundreds of thousands of test subjects have all showed a positive effect of moderate alcohol drinking on the incidence and mortality through heart and circulatory diseases. Practically all the studies involved healthy test subjects. Studies on the influence of alcohol in certain patient populations are scarce or even non-existent. A recent original study on the effects of alcohol on mortality through heart conditions in patients with maturity onset diabetes (diabetes type 2) is worth mentioning.
As a result of the increased sugar levels in their blood, diabetics have a higher risk of narrowing around the coronary arteries, resulting in possibly fatal heart conditions. In order to keep this risk as low as possible, diabetics are encouraged to maintain a strict and healthy diet. It now seems that there is also a place for moderate alcohol consumption in this healthy diet, and diabetics who drink a few glasses of alcoholic drinks a day run a lower risk of an early death as a result of heart conditions in comparison with diabetics who do not drink at all.
(JAMA 1999;282:239-246).

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