BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is linked to decreased platelet function. Whether this link is dependent on sex or type of beverage remains unclear.
METHODS: Cross-sectional data were obtained from the Framingham Heart Study (N = 3427). Alcohol consumption was assessed by using standardized medical history and Harvard semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires. Five bioassays measured 120 platelet reactivity traits across agonists in whole-blood and platelet-rich plasma samples. Linear mixed-effects models adjusted for age, sex and aspirin use, hypertension, body mass index, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, smoking and diabetes evaluated associations between platelet reactivity and alcohol consumption. Beta effects, the regression coefficients that estimate the amount of change in each unit of the predictor variable whereas all other predictor variables remain fixed, for heavy alcohol consumption were compared with effects of aspirin use.
RESULTS: Alcohol consumption was associated with decreased platelet reactivity, with more associations among wine and liquor compared with beer. Many platelet-alcohol associations in the full sample (86%, P < 0.01) had larger effect sizes in females. Lower light transmission aggregometry adenosine diphosphate (1.82 microM) maximum aggregation (P = 2.6E-3, 95% CI = -0.07, -0.02, beta = -0.042) and area under the curve (P = 7.7E-3, 95% CI = -0.07, -0.01, beta = -0.039) were associated with white wine consumption; however, red wine had no associations with platelet reactivity. The effect of aspirin use was on average 11.3 (+/-4.0) times greater than that of heavy drinking in our full sample.
CONCLUSIONS: We confirm associations between alcohol consumption and decreased platelet reactivity. Effects appeared larger for liquor and wine intake and in our female cohort. Red wine consumption is not associated with lower platelet function, contrasting with prior population studies. Although we report an inhibitory relationship between alcohol intake and platelet function, these effects appear much smaller than that of aspirin use.
BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown inconsistent findings regarding the association of light to moderate alcohol consumption with cause-specific mortality. Therefore, this study sought to examine the prospective association of alcohol consumption with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the US population.
METHODS: This was a population-based cohort study of adults aged 18 years or older in the National Health Interview Survey (1997 to 2014) with linkage to the National Death Index records through December 31, 2019. Self-reported alcohol consumption was categorized into seven groups (lifetime abstainers; former infrequent or regular drinkers; and current infrequent, light, moderate, or heavy drinkers). The main outcome was all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
RESULTS: During an average follow-up of 12.65 years, among the 918,529 participants (mean age 46.1 years; 48.0% male), 141,512 adults died from all causes, 43,979 from cardiovascular disease (CVD), 33,222 from cancer, 8246 from chronic lower respiratory tract diseases, 5572 from accidents (unintentional injuries), 4776 from Alzheimer's disease, 4845 from diabetes mellitus, 2815 from influenza and pneumonia, and 2692 from nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, or nephrosis. Compared with lifetime abstainers, current infrequent, light, or moderate drinkers were at a lower risk of mortality from all causes [infrequent-hazard ratio: 0.87; 95% confidence interval: 0.84 to 0.90; light: 0.77; 0.75 to 0.79; moderate 0.82; 0.80 to 0.85], CVD, chronic lower respiratory tract diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and influenza and pneumonia. Also, light or moderate drinkers were associated with lower risk of mortality from diabetes mellitus and nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, or nephrosis. In contrast, heavy drinkers had a significantly higher risk of mortality from all causes, cancer, and accidents (unintentional injuries). Furthermore, binge drinking >/= 1 day/week was associated with a higher risk of mortality from all causes (1.15; 1.09 to 1.22), cancer (1.22; 1.10 to 1.35), and accidents (unintentional injuries) (1.39; 1.11 to 1.74).
CONCLUSIONS: Infrequent, light, and moderate alcohol consumption were inversely associated with mortality from all causes, CVD, chronic lower respiratory tract diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and influenza and pneumonia. Light or moderate alcohol consumption might also have a beneficial effect on mortality from diabetes mellitus and nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, or nephrosis. However, heavy or binge had a higher risk of all-cause, cancer, and accidents (unintentional injuries) mortality.
Background: The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was: (i) to examine the association between wine consumption and cardiovascular mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and coronary heart disease (CHD) and (ii) to analyse whether this association could be influenced by personal and study factors, including the participants' mean age, the percentage of female subjects, follow-up time and percentage of current smokers.
Methods: In order to conduct this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched several databases for longitudinal studies from their inception to March 2023. This study was previously registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021293568).
Results: This systematic review included 25 studies, of which the meta-analysis included 22 studies. The pooled RR for the association of wine consumption and the risk of CHD using the DerSimonian and Laird approach was 0.76 (95% CIs: 0.69, 0.84), for the risk of CVD was 0.83 (95% CIs: 0.70, 0.98), and for the risk of cardiovascular mortality was 0.73 (95% CIs: 0.59, 0.90).
Conclusions: This research revealed that wine consumption has an inverse relationship to cardiovascular mortality, CVD, and CHD. Age, the proportion of women in the samples, and follow-up time did not influence this association. Interpreting these findings with prudence was necessary because increasing wine intake might be harmful to individuals who are vulnerable to alcohol because of age, medication, or their pathologies.
Few investigations have been performed between tobacco smoking, alcohol, and arterial stiffness. The purpose of our study was to investigate the association between smoking use and alcohol with arterial stiffness index (ASI) in a middle-age population. Smoking pack-years and cigarettes per day were defined as alcohol consumption in units/day. Sex associations between smoking and alcohol with ASI were estimated using multiple linear regressions. Interactions and synergistic effects were investigating. 98 039 individuals of the UK Biobank cohort were included (45 457 men and 52 582 women). ASI levels were higher in men than in women (9.91 vs. 8.71 m/s, p < .001), and showed higher relationship to smoking tobacco in multiple linear regression models in women than in men (FDR logworth 78.4 vs. 52.7). The findings revealed that ASI was higher among current smokers than never smokers in both sex and after adjustment for all covariates (in men 10.4 vs. 9.6 and in women 9.5 vs. 8.5 m/s, p < .001). Alcohol consumption per day was positively associated with higher levels of ASI in both sex, but with a less relationship (FDR logworth for men = 2.8, for women = 2.5). An interaction was observed between smoking information and alcohol in men but not in women. Synergistic effects were observed by adding smoking information on alcohol consumption models in men and women (p = .029, p < .001, respectively). Smoking and alcohol were associated with higher ASI in both sex but with a higher relationship among women. The findings suggest the importance of considering smoking and alcohol consumption cessation in cardiovascular diseases prevention.