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Study: Red wine reduces risk of stroke

Category: General Health

For many people, a glass of red wine can be a pleasant way to relax at the end of a long day, but a new study found that red wine might also help reduce the risk of stroke.

The study was conducted on lab mice by giving them a dose of resveratol, a compound found in red wine.

Associate professor at John s Hopkins University Sylvian Dore, who led the research, said in the study's report that the compound may boost an enzyme that is known to help prevent damage to brain cells.

Dore said that his study shows that people may be able build up the beneficial compound, which otherwise doesn't occur naturally in the brain.

"Our study adds to evidence that resveratrol can potentially build brain resistance to ischemic stroke," he said. "It's not likely that brain cells can have high enough local levels of resveratrol to be protective."

Red wine is also thought to decrease the risk of heart disease, according to other studies.