who drink moderate quantities of alcohol and wine drinkers have healthier behaviours and a reduced level and frequency of cardiovascular risk factors than abstainers and people who drink other beverages.41 Wine drinking in Belfast tended to be associated with people of higher socioeconomic status in whom health expectations are better (data not shown).The biological effects of alcohol depend on how much and how often alcohol is consumed.42 This association has been attributed to the relation between alcohol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol, fibrinogen, and haemoglobin A1C,19 and temporary changes in the fibrinolytic system.43 The higher blood pressure levels observed in Belfast on Mondays and Tuesdays are associated with the binge drinking pattern in they city.44 Moreover, a randomised crossover trial has shown in participants unaccustomed to alcohol consumption that acute ingestion of a large and tolerable dose of alcohol induces changes in the normal circadian periodicity of the haemostatic system.45
