Binge drinking, drinking frequency, and risk of ischaemic heart disease: a population-based cohort study

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular epidemiology
• Alcohol consumption research
• Public health studies

Background:

• Light-to-moderate alcohol intake is linked to reduced ischaemic heart disease (IHD) risk.
• Heavy or binge drinking patterns may elevate IHD risk, creating a complex relationship.
• Investigating binge drinking within light-to-moderate consumption levels is crucial for understanding IHD risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between binge drinking and the risk of IHD and all-cause mortality among light-to-moderate alcohol drinkers.
• To investigate the impact of drinking frequency, alone and combined with total weekly alcohol intake, on IHD and mortality risks.

Main Methods:

• A population-based cohort study involving 26,786 participants from the Danish National Cohort Study (1994, 2000, 2005).
• Defined binge drinking as >5 drinks/day and light-to-moderate drinking as ≤21 drinks/week for men and ≤14 drinks/week for women.
• Analyzed the risk of IHD and all-cause mortality in relation to drinking patterns and frequency over a mean follow-up of 6.9 years.

Main Results:

• Among male light-to-moderate drinkers, occasional binge drinking showed no significant association with IHD risk (HR 0.81).
• For women, binge drinking within light-to-moderate levels was also not significantly linked to IHD risk (HR 0.97).
• Women drinking 5-6 days/week had a lower IHD risk compared to those drinking 1-2 days/week (HR 0.54).

Conclusions:

• Binge drinking patterns within light-to-moderate alcohol consumption levels were not associated with increased risk of IHD or all-cause mortality.
• Drinking frequency did not emerge as a significant determinant for IHD or all-cause mortality risk in the study population.