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Published on: May 28, 2019
Mortality and light to moderate alcohol consumption after myocardial infarction
J Muntwyler1, C H Hennekens, J E Buring
1Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Insights
Light to moderate alcohol consumption is linked to lower total mortality in men with a history of myocardial infarction. This study suggests a potential protective effect of modest drinking in this patient group.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Health
- Epidemiology
- Alcohol Research
Background:
- Heavy alcohol consumption is associated with increased mortality.
- Light to moderate alcohol intake may decrease mortality in healthy individuals.
- Limited data exist on alcohol's effect on mortality in post-myocardial infarction patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between light to moderate alcohol consumption and mortality in men with a prior myocardial infarction.
- To address the scarcity of data in this specific patient population.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study involving 90,150 men from the Physicians' Health Study.
- Included 5,358 men with a previous myocardial infarction and no history of cancer, stroke, or liver disease.
- Alcohol consumption estimated using a food-frequency questionnaire.
Main Results:
- A mean follow-up of 5 years observed 920 deaths.
- Moderate alcohol intake showed a significant decrease in total mortality (p=0.016) after confounder adjustment.
- Relative risks for total mortality decreased with increasing moderate alcohol intake (e.g., 0.72 for 2-4 drinks/week).
Conclusions:
- Men with previous myocardial infarction who consume small to moderate amounts of alcohol experience lower total mortality.
- Findings suggest a potential survival benefit from light to moderate alcohol consumption in this cohort.
Background:
Although heavy alcohol consumption increases total mortality, light to moderate consumption decreases cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in apparently healthy people. Since data are sparse on the relation of light to moderate alcohol intake to mortality in patients with previous myocardial infarction, we did a prospective study of mortality in men.
Method:
Of 90,150 men in the Physicians' Health Study enrollment cohort who provided information on alcohol intake and who had no history of cancer, stroke, or liver disease, 5358 had a previous myocardial infarction. We estimated alcohol consumption by food-frequency questionnaire.
Findings:
During a mean follow-up of 5 years, 920 men died. After adjustment for several potential confounders, moderate alcohol intake was associated with a significant decrease in total mortality (p=0.016). Compared with men who rarely or never drank alcohol, those who drank one to four drinks per month had a relative risk for total mortality of 0.85 (95% CI 0.69-1.05); for two to four drinks per week, the relative risk was 0.72 (0.58-0.89); for one drink per day 0.79 (0.64-9.96); and for two or more drinks per day 0.84 (0.55-1.26).
Interpretation:
Men with previous myocardial infarction who consume small to moderate amounts of alcohol have a lower total mortality.
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