Moderate drinkers who like a glass of wine or beer with dinner have long taken comfort in the fact that most doctors believe this habit could do no harm or could even be good for one's health. But a new study questions whether the dangers of alcohol consumption in the elderly may have been misunderstood.

In a study of 4,466 people between ages of 71 and 81, researchers found that even a limited alcohol intake — two or more servings a day for men and one or more for women — was associated with subtle alterations in cardiac structure and function. Of those affected, the men experienced enlarged left ventricle wall while the women saw a small reduction in heart function.

The trial's leader, Alexandra Goncalves, a postdoctoral research fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, noted that elderly women appeared to be more susceptible to the cardiotoxic effects of alcohol.

Panel: Get at least 7 hours of sleep

Seven hours of shut-eye : That's the minimum amount of sleep that adults need each night for best health, said recommendations from a panel led by a University of Washington sleep expert.

And functioning effectively — without guzzling gallons of coffee — could require even more time, said Dr. Nathaniel F. Watson, a professor of neurology and co-director of the UW Medicine Sleep Center.

"Seven hours — that's the lower limit of the threshold," said Watson, who is also incoming president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, which issued the guidelines with the Sleep Research Society.

Sleeping nine hours or more a night on regular basis actually might be appropriate for young adults, people recovering from sleep deficits and those who are ill. It's not clear whether sleeping so long is ideal for everyone else — but it's almost certainly better than sleeping too little, the researchers agreed.

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