Middle-aged women who enjoy a couple of glasses of wine a day tend to enjoy a healthier old age.

Scientists say moderate drinking can lead to "successful ageing" and cut the risk of stroke.

Results from US studies suggest that concerns about the disadvantages of drinking may have been exaggerated, with evidence that steady consumption of alcohol over a lifetime may have some health benefits.

Although a limited amount of wine a day has been long associated with better heart health, particularly in men, the overall impact on wellbeing has seldom been assessed, the Daily Mail reported.

Two studies by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University in Boston used data from the landmark Nurses' Health Study, which started in 1976 and involves more than 200,000 women, according to a Harvard statement.

The alcohol consumption of almost 14,000 women who lived to the age of 70 was analysed in mid-life to find out what factors contributed to successful survival.

Harvard medical instructor Qi Sun, who led the study, found 1,499 women reached 70 years without any major diseases such as cancer and heart disease, and had no physical impairments or memory problems.

He looked at levels of drinking around the age of 58, and found women who had one or two drinks most days of the week had a 28 percent better chance of "successfully surviving" to old age, compared with non-drinkers.

Sun found that women who drink most days were likely to be healthier than those who drank one or two days a week.

A second study analysed the risk of stroke in 73,450 women in the Nurses' Health Study who did not have either heart disease or cancer when enrolled.

Altogether 1,822 strokes were recorded, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's meeting in Chicago. Any level of drinking was linked to a lower risk of stroke.