Covariates of human peripheral nerve function: III. Effects of reported drinking

A cross-sectional epidemiologic study of the relationship between alcohol consumption and peripheral nerve function was performed using data from a cohort of 4462 male Vietnam-era Army veterans selected independently of either alcohol consumption history or clinical disorders associated with excessive alcohol use. Self-reported alcohol consumption, expressed as current drinking intensity (drinks per month), was the primary measure of alcohol use. The dependent variables were: (a) conduction velocity and amplitude of the median motor, median sensory, ulnar sensory, peroneal motor, and sural sensory nerves; (b) vibrotactile and thermal thresholds of the index finger and great toe. Drinkers who reported consuming < 180 drinks per month had, in general, slightly faster mean nerve conduction velocities, slightly greater evoked response amplitudes, and slightly lower vibrotactile thresholds than did both never drinkers and drinkers reporting consuming more than 179 drinks per month. The heaviest drinking category (> 179 drinks/month) had slightly slower mean conduction velocities and slightly smaller mean amplitudes than all other drinking categories. No consistent associations were observed between thermal thresholds and alcohol consumption. These results suggest that consuming up to 6 drinks per day alone does not cause slowed nerve conduction velocity, diminished amplitude of the evoked response, or elevated sensory thresholds in 35- to 45-year-old men.