Sep 25, 2015 11:31 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

New research suggests women who drink beer a few times a week modestly reduce their risk of a heart attack.

Swedish researchers found that consuming beer at most once or twice per week run a 30 percent lower risk of heart attack, compared with both heavy drinkers and women who never drink beer.

"Previous research also suggests that alcohol in moderate quantities can have a certain protective effect, but there is still uncertainty as to whether or not this really is the case," Dominique Hange, researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy, said in a statement. "Our results have been checked against other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which substantiates the findings."

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from 1,500 women over a period of almost 50 years. In the study, women were asked about the frequency of their consumption of beer, wine or spirits, and about various physical symptoms.

The results revealed that over the 32-year follow-up period, 185 women had a heart attack, 162 suffered a stroke, 160 developed diabetes and 345 developed cancer.

Researchers found that moderate consumption of beer seems to protect women from heart attacks.

"We were unable to confirm that moderate wine consumption has the same effect, so our results also need to be confirmed through follow-up studies," Hange said.

The findings are detailed in the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care.

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