Smoking, alcohol hurt heart worse in combo - UPI

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers say drinking alcohol while in tobacco smoke-filled air is bad for cardiovascular health.

Lead author Scott Ballinger exposed mice to smoky air in a laboratory enclosure and fed a liquid diet containing ethanol -- the intoxicating ingredient in alcohol. The mice exposed to smoke and alcohol had a an almost five-fold increase in artery lesions, compared to mice that breathed filtered air and ate a normal solid diet. Artery lesions are common among heavy smokers and a key sign of advancing cardiovascular disease, Ballinger said....