Associations between alcohol drinking and multiple risk factors for atherosclerosis in smokers and nonsmokers

This study investigated relationships between alcohol intake and multiple risk factors for atherosclerosis in smokers and nonsmokers. Men aged 35 to 54 years (n = 27 005) were divided into 6 groups by ethanol intake. The prevalence of multiple (>or=3 or >or=4) risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high total cholesterol, triglyceride and fasting blood glucose, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, was compared among the groups in smokers and nonsmokers. Smokers and nonsmokers showed U- and J-shaped relationships, respectively, between alcohol intake and prevalence of multiple risk factors. Odds ratios of drinkers versus nondrinkers for multiple risk factors were significantly low in very light, light, moderate, and heavy drinkers in smokers and were significantly low in light and moderate drinkers but not in very low and heavy drinkers in nonsmokers. There is a U- or J-shaped relationship between alcohol consumption and multiple risk factors for atherosclerosis, and this relationship is modified by smoking.