Alcohol can be good for bones

Having one or two alcoholic drinks a day could help protect women against brittle-bone disease, research suggested today.

The study focused on 46 pairs of identical twins. One twin drank very little and the other drank moderately. Their bone-mineral density was measured, with chemical markers of the bone turnover calculated by taking urine samples.

The researchers, writing in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, found that moderate drinking - about eight units of alcohol a week - was linked to significantly denser bones compared to lower consumption.

The findings also confirmed previous studies that have found that smoking causes osteoporosis.

Professor Tim Spector, of the Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit at St Thomas' Hospital in London, said the results suggested moderate drinking might improve the " microarchitecture" of the bone.

But the study did not find a clear link between bone production and alcohol intake.

Professor Spector said it was unlikely that doctors would soon be prescribing regular alcohol drinking to their female patients.

But he said: "Further work to find out what in alcoholic drinks produces this effect could be useful."