Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Alcohol, blamed for social ills ranging from liver disease to disorderly behavior, turns out to also lower the risk of heart illness in men. And the more they drink, the lower their risk, a study in Spain found.

The study of more than 41,000 adults, published in the journal Heart, found that regularly drinking alcohol of any type lowers the danger of serious heart disease by almost a third, according to the researchers, led by Larraitz Arriola at the Public Health Department of Gipuzkoa in San Sebastian, Spain.

The research confirms previous studies that showed a benefit from alcohol. Japanese scientists reported last year in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke that heavy drinking may protect men from heart disease, although it raises the risk in women. The likelihood of stroke increased in both men and women.

The Spanish study analyzed alcohol intake of about 15,500 men and 26,000 women between 29 and 69, and tracked their health for an average of 10 years. Men who drank moderate, high, and very high levels of alcohol had a lower risk of coronary heart disease, they found. The type of alcohol they drank didn’t affect the level of heart protection and the study included beverages other than wine.

For those classified as former drinkers, the risk was 10 percent lower. Among those who drank “little,” or from zero to 5 grams per day, the danger of heart disease was 35 percent lower. “Moderate” drinkers who consumed between 5 and 30 grams a day cut their risk by 54 percent, while “high” and “very high” drinkers, consumers of 30 to 90 grams and more than 90 grams, respectively, cut their likelihood by 50 percent.

Spain ranks third globally in beer and wine production and ranks sixth in per capita alcohol consumption, yet the country also has one of the lowest death rates from coronary heart disease. Benefits among women weren’t statistically significant, “possibly due to lower numbers of coronary events they experienced than men,” the authors said.

“Women process alcohol differently, and female hormones protect against heart disease in younger age groups,” they wrote. The study received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Health and the Center for Biomedical Investigation in Epidemiology and Public Health.

An estimated 2 billion people globally drink alcohol and more than 76 million of those have ill health as a result, the authors cautioned, citing the World Health Organization. Alcohol also causes 1.8 million deaths annually, they said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Trista Kelley in London at tkelley2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 18, 2009 19:01 EST