Moderate drinking can be good for the kidneys

A drink a day may reduce the risk of kidney failure in men.

The researchers had taken 473 healthy males, who had moderate consumption of alcohol weekly (about a glass a day) and compared their elevated creatinine levels and reduced glomerular filtration rates with men who drank less than a glass a day of alcohol. The research had moderated the drinking pattern and renal function of these men through a period of 14 years.

The results of the research had showed that men who drank moderate alcohol weekly had 30% less chance of having elevated creatinine levels and low levels of glomerular filtration rates than males who drank very less. High levels of creatinine in blood and reduced glomerular filtration rates are signals of kidney dysfunction.

Scientists have in their previous researches linked moderate alcohol consumption with cardiac benefits, while the association between alcohol and renal functions were still unclear. Most of the time heavy drinking (more than a glass of alcohol a day) had been associated with adverse effects on the renal functions. The new research for the first time had established a positive association between kidney function and drinking.

The research is published in the current issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Reference: Archives of Internal Medicine, May 2005