No. Researchers aren't telling women to get wasted. What they are saying though is that drinking a beer once or twice a week may help reduce their risk of heart attack.

"Previous research also suggests that alcohol in moderate quantities can have a certain protective effect, but there is still uncertainty as to whether or not this really is the case," said Dominique Hange, researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy, in a statement.

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, followed a representative selection of 1,500 females from 1968 to 2000. The women in the study were between the ages of 70 and 92 years old.

Study findings revealed that women who drank one or two beers per week were 30 percent less likely to have a heart attack when compared to counterparts who drank more frequently.

The study also touched on the importance of moderate alcohol consumption. Further results revealed that women who drank much more frequently than study counterparts were almost 50 percent more likely to die of cancer. And while moderate consumption of beer seemed to aid in protection against a heart attack, the same was not true for women who never drank beer or those who drank much more per week.

Lastly, the study authors noted that follow-up studies would be necessary as they were unable to confirm if moderate wine consumption held the same effect.

"Our results have been checked against other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which substantiates the findings," Hange said.

"At the same time, we were unable to confirm that moderate wine consumption has the same effect, so our results also need to be confirmed through follow-up studies," Hange concluded.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care.

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