Drink or Two a Day May Help Lungs

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As part of their exams, all the patients also underwent a range of pulmonary function tests (PFT) designed to gauge how well a person inhales, exhales and transfers oxygen from the lungs into the bloodstream.

Stacking PFT results alongside drinking rates, Siu's team found that so-called "light to moderate drinkers" -- those who did not abstain altogether but consumed less than two glasses of alcohol per day -- were the least likely to have problems with lung function.

The relationship between moderate drinking and healthy lungs appeared to hold up regardless of smoking habits or a previous experience of lung and/or heart disease.

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The survey records had not broken down alcohol consumption according to type of alcohol consumed, so it's not possible to tell from this study if any category of drink is healthier for the lungs than another.

Siu said light drinking's protective effect roughly translates to a 20 percent reduction in the risk for developing lung disease. The link between alcohol use and lung health held steady across all ethnic groups, all age groups, and for both men and women, he added.

"There was a little more of a positive impact for women," Siu said, "but not a huge difference. And, in fact, when we looked at three to five drinks per day, then the men did better than the women."

A second study, also presented at this week's meeting, found that vitamins might help keep lungs healthy, too.

In this instance, a team of researchers from Bangladesh, led by Kazi S. Bennoor from the National Institutes of Diseases of Chest and Hospital, followed a group of 200 healthy smokers between the ages of 30 and 50 for two months. They divided the participants into four groups: those told to consume 10,000 IUs daily of vitamin A; those taking 500 mg daily of vitamin C; those taking 200 mg daily of vitamin E; and those taking all three of the vitamins in combination.

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