CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- A study of men and women age 70 to 79 found that those who downed one to seven alcoholic drinks a week had a significantly lower risk of heart problems or death than those who didn't imbibe, researchers said on Monday.

Why the apparent protective effect exists is not clear, the report from the U.S. Institute on Aging and the University of Florida said, but it does not appear to be related to speculation that alcohol consumption has an anti-inflammatory effect.

The study involved 2,487 men and women, without heart disease and between the ages of 70 and 79, who were recruited into a study in 1997 and 1998. They were followed for five years with blood tests.

The study found that "light to moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a 26 percent reduced risk of all-cause mortality and almost 30 percent reduced risk of cardiac events" such as heart attacks, compared to non-drinkers, the report said.

Light to moderate consumption was defined as one to seven drinks a week, with a "drink" being either one can of beer, a glass of wine or a mixed drink with one shot of liquor.

"Our findings provide evidence of a cardioprotective effect and survival benefit of light to moderate alcohol consumption among older people," said the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

It added that the anti-inflammatory effect of consumption at those levels "does not appear to explain these beneficial effects" which "may vary as a function of sex, race and background cardiovascular risk."

Recommendations on alcohol consumption should be based "on a careful evaluation of an individual's risks and benefits in the context of adequate treatment and control of established cardiovascular risk factors," it concluded.

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