Arthur Klatsky M.D.
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Arthur L. Klatsky, BA (Yale University), MD (Harvard University)
is a Senior Consultant in Cardiology and an Adjunct Investigator
at the Division of Research at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center,
Oakland, California with which he has been affiliated for forty
one years. For a number of years he carried the dual responsibilities
of being chief of the Division of Cardiology as well as the principal
investigator in a world famous ongoing research study. He served
as Chief of the Division of Cardiology at Oakland from 1978 to
1994, and as Director of the Coronary Care Unit from 1968 to 1990.
Since 1977 he has been Principal Investigator of a series of studies
of the relations between drinking alcoholic beverages and health.
He has written and lectured extensively on relationships of alcohol
consumption to cardiovascular conditions. His 1974 article "Alcohol
consumption before myocardial infarction: Results from the Kaiser-Permanente
epidemiologic study of myocardial infarction" (Ann Intern Med;
81:294-301) was the first published epidemiologic report of an
inverse relationship between alcohol drinking and coronary disease
and was cited by the NIAAA in 1995 as one of 16 "seminal" articles
in alcohol research. Ever since that time, governments, prestigious
medical journals and public health policy groups like the American
Heart Association have all turned to Dr. Arthur Klatsky for consultation
about alcohol and health. Hardly an article is published in literature
on this subject without his name among the references. Infact,
more than sixty studies have been published confirming Klatskys
surprising report that, as he puts it, "Abstinence can be hazardous
to some persons health." His studies of the relationship between
drinking and heart problems led Klatsky to be one of the first
to present the now- famous U-shaped curve, in which graphic data
about drinking follows a U-shaped pattern. Moderate drinkers,
with the lowest risk, are at the bottom of the U, while abstainers
and heavy drinkers face higher risks. In 1992, he received the
first Thomas B. Turner Award for Research Excellence by the Alcoholic
Beverage Medical Research Foundation. In 1995 the National Academies
of Practice named him aDistinguished Practitioner. Since 1997,
he has been an Associate Editor of The Permanente Journal. He
was a 2000-2001 Health Forum Cardiovascular Health Fellowship
Awardee.
Arthur Klatsky comments on his lifetime experience in giving advice
about alcohol and health: "The people I see are mostly middle-aged
or older persons at high risk of dying." Unless they have a history
or special risk of problem drinking by this point in their lives,
I know they are unlikely to become heavy drinkers. So if my patients
can benefit from light drinking, I advise them to do so. Its
much more difficult to predict among risk or benefit for younger
healthy people. I believe in advising people about alcohol on
a one-on-one basis. Its very difficult for governments or public
health officials to make broad, sweeping statements about alcohol
consumption that apply to everyone." However, Dr. Klatsky concurs
with the federal governments recommendation that moderate drinking
means no more than one drink per day for women (12g) and no more
than two drinks per day for men.
Professor. R. Curtis Ellison, who helped uncover the French Paradox,
says of Klatsky "Arthur Klatsky has probably done more than any
other scientist to advance our knowledge about the health effects
of moderate alcohol consumption. His background in cardiology
made him appreciate the striking reduction in coronary heart disease
he observed in moderate alcohol consumers. He was appropriately
cautious in interpreting his data but has persisted in presenting
it clearly and consistently over the years to the scientific community."
"No one should drink as a primary way to protect themselves against
heart disease," Klatsky maintains. "To avoid heart disease: Stay
thin, dont smoke, exercise, maintain a low fat diet, control
any problems with high blood pressure and diabetes, and maybe
drink moderately but as part of a whole constellation of healthful
habits." Klatskyruns four miles at least four days a week and
until recently, when his knees began to protest, ran marathons.
He also hedges his bets by having wine with dinner nearly every
night.
Despite his own drinking habits, Klatsky does not believe that
the fruit of the vine is a magic potion with superior health benefits.
He speculates that wine comes out looking better in some studies,
including several of his own, for two main reasons. His own published
research data on Kaiser enrollees reveals that wine drinkers are
a more health-conscious lot to begin with. The Californian wine
drinkers tended to exercise more, smoke less and were leaner than
their beer- and spirits-drinking or abstaining counterparts. Whether
the wine was red or white made no difference.
"Wine drinkers tend to be more educated yuppie types with more
regular habits and many things going in their favor. Wine drinkers
also tend to have only a glass or two with dinner" he says. Klatsky
points out that the Honolulu Heart Study and the Munich Heart
Study found beer to be quite protective. "The fact is people usually
dont drink brandy or Scotch with their meals. Nothing would please
me more than if wine were ound to be the most protective, but
right now Id say if someone likes beer they shouldnt switch
to wine for health reasons. The pattern of drinking may turn out
be one of the most important factors, and its very hard to study
peoples habits...Theres a general tendency by many persons to
assume that everything we like is bad for us. I am pleased by
the fact that we found out that something people like is actually
good for them."
AIM is honoured to welcome Dr Klatsky to its Social, Scientific
and Medical Council, which has replaced the Editorial Board forthwith.
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