THIRSTY MONKEYS AND OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

WHAT CAN we learn from observing the alcohol consumption patterns of monkeys? Apparently, quite a bit. The latest study investigating the effects of drinking alcohol on our health suggests that moderate consumption can boost our immune system. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, trained 12 rhesus monkeys to consume alcohol of their own accord. The team vaccinated the primates against small pox and then allowed them access to either a 4 percent ethanol solution or sugar water. “Like humans, rhesus macaques showed highly variable drinking behavior,” said Ilhem Messaoudi, an associate professor of medicine and lead author of the study. “Some animals drank large volumes of ethanol, while others drank in moderation,” Messaoudi remarked. Those monkeys that drank the largest amounts did not respond as well to the vaccine as those that drank no alcohol. However, animals that drank moderate amounts of ethanol displayed enhanced vaccine responses to those that remained teetotal. “Our study shows for the first time that voluntary moderate alcohol consumption boosts immune responses to vaccination,” said Messaoudi. The findings were published in the journal vaccine earlier in December.

In 2O13, there were a number of other studies that suggested that moderate consumption was beneficial to health:  including a 4O percent reduced risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease in men, and a 2O percent reduced risk of death from cancer in a major French study in June. Similarly, scientists at the University of Leicester in the UK found that resveratrol slowed the growth of cancer in mice, even after being metabolized into other compounds by the body.  Meanwhile, resveratrol isn’t only good for the heart but also the brain and may provide hope for Alzheimer’s sufferers by preventing the harmful clumps of protein that cause brain cells to die from latching on to the cells.