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Relations of alcoholic beverage use to subsequent coronary artery disease hospitalization
Insights
This study on alcohol consumption and coronary artery disease (CAD) found that moderate drinking, especially 1-2 drinks daily, is associated with lower CAD risk. The findings suggest alcohol may protect against CAD, but heavier drinking is not advised.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- The relationship between alcohol consumption and coronary artery disease (CAD) is complex, with questions regarding dose, drinking history, and beverage type.
- Abstainers may have higher CAD risk due to illness-related cessation of drinking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between alcohol consumption patterns and the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD).
- To clarify whether past drinking, light drinking, or beverage type influences the observed alcohol-CAD relationship.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study of 85,001 health examinees with alcohol history data collected from 1978-1982.
- Analysis controlled for age, sex, race, smoking, coffee drinking, and education, comparing CAD hospitalization rates among different alcohol consumption groups.
Main Results:
- Past drinkers and very infrequent drinkers showed CAD risk similar to lifelong abstainers.
- A significantly lower and progressively decreasing CAD risk was observed with increasing alcohol intake levels.
- Beverage type (wine, liquor, beer) did not show a major independent effect on CAD risk.
Conclusions:
- The study suggests alcohol consumption, particularly moderate intake (1-2 drinks/day), is associated with a protective effect against coronary artery disease (CAD).
- Findings indicate that moderate alcohol intake may reduce CAD risk, but heavier drinking is not recommended based on these results.
Abstract:
Unresolved questions about the inverse relation between alcohol consumption and coronary artery disease (CAD) include; Dose past drinking have a role in the apparently higher CAD risk of abstainers? Is the lower CAD risk found only among lighter drinkers? Does type of alcoholic beverage matter? Are abstainers at higher risk of CAD because symptoms or illness cause many to quit drinking? In a prospective study among 85,001 health examinees giving an alcohol history at a health examination from 1978 through 1982, 756 persons were later hospitalized for CAD in the same years. Using lifelong abstainers as the reference group and controlling for age, sex, race, smoking, coffee drinking and education, analysis showed that past drinkers and very infrequent drinkers had CAD risk similar to that of lifelong abstainers. A significantly and progressively lower CAD risk was found at higher drinking levels. Preference for wine, liquor or beer had no major independent effect. A subset of persons apparently free of CAD and other recent major illnesses showed a similar alcohol-CAD relation. Thus, this study suggests a negative answer to the 4 questions above and supports the view that alcohol protects against CAD. As most of the apparent protection was present at a daily intake of 1 to 2 drinks/day, an amount generally regarded as safe for most persons, the findings should not be used to justify heavier drinking.