BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that alcohol intake trajectories differ in their associations with biomarkers of cardiovascular functioning, but it remains unclear if they also differ in their relationship to actual coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence. Using multiple longitudinal cohort studies, we evaluated the association between long-term alcohol consumption trajectories and CHD.
METHODS: Data were drawn from six cohorts (five British and one French). The combined analytic sample comprised 35,132 individuals (62.1% male; individual cohorts ranging from 869 to 14,247 participants) of whom 4.9% experienced an incident (fatal or non-fatal) CHD event. Alcohol intake across three assessment periods of each cohort was used to determine participants' intake trajectories over approximately 10 years. Time to onset for (i) incident CHD and (ii) fatal CHD was established using surveys and linked medical record data. A meta-analysis of individual participant data was employed to estimate the intake trajectories' association with CHD onset, adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics.
RESULTS: Compared to consistently moderate drinkers (males: 1-168 g ethanol/week; females: 1-112 g ethanol/week), inconsistently moderate drinkers had a significantly greater risk of incident CHD [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02-1.37]. An elevated risk of incident CHD was also found for former drinkers (HR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.13-1.52) and consistent non-drinkers (HR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.21-1.78), although, after sex stratification, the latter effect was only evident for females. When examining fatal CHD outcomes alone, only former drinkers had a significantly elevated risk, though hazard ratios for consistent non-drinkers were near identical. No evidence of elevated CHD risk was found for consistently heavy drinkers, and a weak association with fatal CHD for inconsistently heavy drinkers was attenuated following adjustment for confounding factors.
CONCLUSIONS: Using prospectively recorded alcohol data, this study has shown how instability in drinking behaviours over time is associated with risk of CHD. As well as individuals who abstain from drinking (long term or more recently), those who are inconsistently moderate in their alcohol intake have a higher risk of experiencing CHD. This finding suggests that policies and interventions specifically encouraging consistency in adherence to lower-risk drinking guidelines could have public health benefits in reducing the population burden of CHD. The absence of an effect amongst heavy drinkers should be interpreted with caution given the known wider health risks associated with such intake.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03133689
Importance: Inflammation is important in colorectal cancer development. Diet modulates inflammation and may thus be a crucial modifiable factor in colorectal cancer prevention.
Objective: To examine whether proinflammatory diets are associated with increased colorectal cancer risk by using an empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP) score based on a weighted sum of 18 food groups that characterizes dietary inflammatory potential based on circulating levels of inflammation biomarkers.
Design, Settings, and Participants: Cohort study of 46804 men (Health Professionals Follow-up Study: 1986-2012) and 74246 women (Nurses' Health Study: 1984-2012) followed for 26 years to examine associations between EDIP scores and colorectal cancer risk using Cox regression. We also examined associations in categories of alcohol intake and body weight. Data analysis began January 17, 2017, and was completed August 9, 2017.
Exposures: EDIP scores calculated from food frequency questionnaires administered every 4 years.
Main Outcomes and Measures: Incident colorectal cancer.
Results: We documented 2699 incident colorectal cancer cases over 2571831 person-years of follow-up. Compared with participants in the lowest EDIP quintile (Q) who had a colorectal cancer incidence rate (per 100000 person-years) of 113 (men) and 80 (women), those in the highest Q had an incidence rate of 151 (men) and 92 (women), leading to an unadjusted rate difference of 38 and 12 more colorectal cancer cases, respectively, among those consuming highly proinflammatory diets. Comparing participants in the highest vs lowest EDIP Qs in multivariable-adjusted analyses, higher EDIP scores were associated with 44% (men: hazard ratio [HR], 1.44; 95% CI, 1.19-1.74; P < .001 for trend), 22% (women: HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.02-1.45; P = .007 for trend), and 32% (men and women: pooled HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.12-1.55; P < .001 for trend) higher risk of developing colorectal cancer. In both men and women, associations were observed in all anatomic subsites except for the rectum in women. In subgroups (P </= .02 for all interactions), associations differed by alcohol intake level, with stronger associations among men (Q5 vs Q1 HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.05-2.49; P = .002 for trend) and women (Q5 vs Q1 HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 0.97-1.81; P = .03 for trend) not consuming alcohol; and by body weight, with stronger associations among overweight/obese men (Q5 vs Q1 HR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.12-1.94; P = .008 for trend) and lean women (Q5 vs Q1 HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 0.99-1.74; P = .01 for trend).
Conclusions and Relevance: Findings suggest that inflammation is a potential mechanism linking dietary patterns and colorectal cancer development. Interventions to reduce the adverse role of proinflammatory diets may be more effective among overweight/obese men and lean women or men and women who do not consume alcohol.
Background: Hydroxytyrosol is a phenolic compound that is present in virgin olive oil (VOO) and wine. Hydroxytyrosol-related foods have been shown to protect against cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Objective: We investigated the associations between hydroxytyrosol and its biological metabolite, 3-O-methyl-hydroxytyrosol, also known as homovanillyl alcohol (HVAL), with CVD and total mortality.
Design: We included 1851 men and women with a mean +/- SD age of 66.8 +/- 6 y at high risk of CVD from prospective cohort data. The primary endpoint was a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, and death from cardiovascular causes; the secondary endpoint was all-cause mortality. Twenty-four-hour urinary hydroxytyrosol and HVAL and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 genotypes were measured.
Results: After multivariable adjustment, all biomarkers were associated, as a continuous variable, with lower CVD risk, but only HVAL showed a strong inverse association (HR: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.80) for the comparison between quintiles. Only HVAL, as a continuous variable, was associated with total mortality (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.95). Individuals in the highest quintile of HVAL compared with the lowest had 9.2 (95% CI: 3.5, 20.8) and 6.3 (95% CI: 2.3, 12.1) additional years of life or years free of CVD, respectively, after 65 y. Individuals with the rs4680GG genotype had the highest HVAL concentrations (P = 0.05). There was no association between COMT genotypes and events or interaction between COMT genotypes and HVAL concentrations.
Conclusions: We report, for the first time to our knowledge, an independent association between high urinary HVAL concentrations and a lower risk of CVD and total mortality in elderly individuals. VOO and wine consumption and a high metabolic COMT capacity for methylation are key factors for high HVAL concentrations. The association that stems from our results reinforces the benefits of 2 key components of the Mediterranean diet (wine and VOO). This trial was registered at www.predimed.es as ISRCTN35739639
Background: Hydroxytyrosol is a phenolic compound that is present in virgin olive oil (VOO) and wine. Hydroxytyrosol-related foods have been shown to protect against cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Objective: We investigated the associations between hydroxytyrosol and its biological metabolite, 3-O-methyl-hydroxytyrosol, also known as homovanillyl alcohol (HVAL), with CVD and total mortality.
Design: We included 1851 men and women with a mean +/- SD age of 66.8 +/- 6 y at high risk of CVD from prospective cohort data. The primary endpoint was a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, and death from cardiovascular causes; the secondary endpoint was all-cause mortality. Twenty-four-hour urinary hydroxytyrosol and HVAL and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 genotypes were measured.
Results: After multivariable adjustment, all biomarkers were associated, as a continuous variable, with lower CVD risk, but only HVAL showed a strong inverse association (HR: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.80) for the comparison between quintiles. Only HVAL, as a continuous variable, was associated with total mortality (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.95). Individuals in the highest quintile of HVAL compared with the lowest had 9.2 (95% CI: 3.5, 20.8) and 6.3 (95% CI: 2.3, 12.1) additional years of life or years free of CVD, respectively, after 65 y. Individuals with the rs4680GG genotype had the highest HVAL concentrations (P = 0.05). There was no association between COMT genotypes and events or interaction between COMT genotypes and HVAL concentrations.
Conclusions: We report, for the first time to our knowledge, an independent association between high urinary HVAL concentrations and a lower risk of CVD and total mortality in elderly individuals. VOO and wine consumption and a high metabolic COMT capacity for methylation are key factors for high HVAL concentrations. The association that stems from our results reinforces the benefits of 2 key components of the Mediterranean diet (wine and VOO). This trial was registered at www.predimed.es as ISRCTN35739639.