Abstract
Purpose
Moderate alcohol use is part of a healthy lifestyle, yet current guidelines caution
nondrinkers against starting to drink alcohol in middle age. The purpose of this study
was to evaluate whether adopting moderate alcohol consumption in middle age would
result in subsequent lower cardiovascular risk.
Methods
This study examined a cohort of adults aged 45-64 years participating in the Atherosclerosis
Risk in Communities study over a 10-year period. The primary outcome was fatal or
nonfatal cardiovascular events.
Results
Of 7697 participants who had no history of cardiovascular disease and were nondrinkers
at baseline, within a 6-year follow-up period, 6.0% began moderate alcohol consumption
(2 drinks per day or fewer for men, 1 drink per day or fewer for women) and 0.4% began
heavier drinking. After 4 years of follow-up, new moderate drinkers had a 38% lower
chance of developing cardiovascular disease than did their persistently nondrinking
counterparts. This difference persisted after adjustment for demographic and cardiovascular
risk factors (odds ratio 0.62, 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.95). There was no difference
in all-cause mortality between the new drinkers and persistent nondrinkers (odds ratio
0.71, 95% confidence interval, 0.31-1.64).
Conclusion
People who newly begin consuming alcohol in middle age rarely do so beyond recommended
amounts. Those who begin drinking moderately experience a relatively prompt benefit
of lower rates of cardiovascular disease morbidity with no change in mortality rates
after 4 years.
Keywords
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Article Info
Footnotes
This research was supported by grant # R01 HL076271 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
