A toast to thin blood

Moderate consumption of alcohol may make a person’s blood less likely to clot, scientists have found.

Studies have shown that people who drink regularly have a lower risk of heart attacks but a higher risk of bleeding strokes than do teetotalers. Since both of these health problems hinge on blood’s clotting ability, Kenneth J. Mukamal of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and his colleagues wondered whether alcohol affects platelets, the components in blood that cause it to clot.