Hospital prescribes wine!

Lovers of red wine have always had the excuse that their favourite tipple has certain health benefits.

Scientists and doctors have long claimed it is good for the heart - and now a hospital is prescribing the drink on its wards. Nurses are giving heart patients at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon two glasses a day.

Research has shown that a regular, moderate amount of red wine can cut the chances of having a heart attack by 50 per cent and a stroke by 20 per cent. The hospital believes it is the first in Europe to use the science to help patients.

The scheme is certain to raise eyebrows among traditionalists in the medical profession, although the hospital has stressed it will not encourage patients with alcohol problems to have wine.

The prescription is the idea of heart surgeon Dr William McCrea.
He said the antioxidants in red wine help prevent blood clotting and stop the build-up of cholesterol in blood vessels.

The wine is being paid for by the hospital's charity, not the NHS. The scheme is proving popular on the wards, where patients say they can feel the tipple doing them good.

Dr McCrea said the idea came from looking at the health statistics of the French.

'They consume twice the amount of fat we do, they smoke more, and they don't do any more exercise than us, but their rate of deaths from heart attacks is half of ours,' he added.

'What's the difference? They drink red wine like we drink tea. It's their drinking behaviour that's imporaftertant. The British don't drink alcohol regularly, but when we do, we drink to excess. They don't, as a rule.'

He said studies had even shown a difference between the beer drinkers of northern France and their countrymen in the south, where more wine is drunk.

However, he stressed: 'Reports on red wine have not always taken into account things like the smoking habits, socio-economic group, psychological profile and exercise of people.

'You have to take it as a package - it's obviously no good just on its own.' His patients have to have the two glasses a day even if they don't like wine, he said. 'Some of the older patients don't drink it at home and regard it like medicine.'

Dr McCrea said cheaper reds are healthier, because matured wines lose the antioxidants in the barrel.

White wines are of little benefit because the skins of the grape, which contain the antioxidants, are discarded. He also recommended that wine should be drunk as soon as possible it is opened, to stop the goodnessescaping. As well as being good for the heart, the antioxidants have been shown to help ward off dementia and other brain illnesses.

Last year, a study found that drinkers who have more than 14 glasses of wine a week also have a 40 per cent lower risk of getting a cold than teetotallers.

Grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Shiraz are thought to have the biggest health benefits. The hospital in Swindon has been buying a variety of wines, depending on what is available in bulk from local suppliers.

Meanwhile, doctors are calling for a ban on alcohol advertising to curb the epidemic of binge drinking among young people.

The demand by members of the British Medical Association could mean drinks advertising goes the same way as cigarette promotion.

The BMA wants TV adverts banned first because they are ' glorifying' excessive drinking, especially by young people.

Doctors at the BMA's annual conference in Torquay overwhelmingly supported a move to ask the Government to legislate for a complete ban on alcohol advertising.

Leigh Bissett, a medical student at the University of East Anglia, said: 'I want the glorification of alcohol on our TV screens ended. TV is promoting people off their faces with alcohol, showing someone surrounded by hundreds of attractive women.'

Official figures released earlier this year showed a doubling of the death rates from drink-related diseases in the last 20 years. Experts blame changing patterns of drinking behaviour, especially binge drinking.

Mr Bissett said: 'We got rid of tobacco advertising because it's a health hazard and the Government should end the advertising of alcohol on TV.'