The relationship between quitting smoking and changes in drinking in World War II veteran twins

Smoking has been associated with the intake of alcohol, and abstinence from tobacco has been hypothesized to increase alcohol intake. There is no consensus, however, on the extent of changes in alcohol intake following withdrawal from nicotine. The current study of a large cohort (n = 5,510) of World War II male veteran twins examined, prospectively, changes in drinking in relation to changes in smoking over a 16-year time period in late adulthood. Self-reported histories of smoking habits obtained from two surveys, administered in 1967-1969 and in 1983-1985, allowed the classification of subjects into continuing smokers (n = 1,441), quitters (n = 1,760), and continuing nonsmokers (n = 2,309). Analyses of the change in alcohol consumption over the period of follow-up, after adjustment for baseline consumption, socioeconomic variables, and health status, found: (1) a significant but moderate increase in alcohol consumption in quitters, due to an increase in wine consumption; (2) a significant marked increase in alcohol consumption in continuing smokers due to an increase in consumption of spirits; and (3) no significant change in alcohol consumption in continuing nonsmokers. These findings indicate that smoking cessation, a behavior change that promotes health, is associated with an increase in alcohol consumption, which may have other adverse long-term effects on health in this cohort.