Drink Up! It Boosts Our Immune Systems.

Can't they ever make up their minds?  Now moderate alcohol consumption may be okay?

Despite just this week seeming to imply that women should drink very little, if at all, compared to men, a new study now says that a glass of wine at dinner may actually boost the immune system and improve its response to vaccination, according to medicalnewstoday.com.

Scientists vaccinated two sets of monkeys against smallpox.  One group was given 4% alcohol while the other, sugar water. The monkeys were monitored for 14 months, then vaccinated again at seven months. During this time the mice's alcohol intake varied, with some classified as "heavy" drinkers and others, moderate drinkers.

In the end, the heavy drinkers had a more muted response to the vaccine than the ones given sugar water. Those considered moderate drinkers had the best response to the vaccine.

So what does this mean for people? "If you have a family history of alcohol abuse, or are at risk, or have been an abuser in the past, we are not recommending you go out and drink to improve your immune system," says one of the authors. "But for the average person that has, say, a glass of wine with dinner, it does seem, in general, to improve heath, and cardiovascular function in particular, and now we can add the immune system to that list."

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