Alcohol is popular in Western culture, supported by a perception that modest intake is cardioprotective. However, excessive drinking has detrimental implications for cardiovascular disease. Atrial fibrillation (AF) following an alcohol binge or the "holiday heart syndrome" is well characterized. However, more modest levels of alcohol intake on a regular basis may also increase the risk of AF. The pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for the relationship between alcohol and AF may include direct toxicity and alcohol's contribution to obesity, sleep-disordered breathing, and hypertension. We aim to provide a comprehensive review of the epidemiology and pathophysiology by which alcohol may be responsible for AF and determine whether alcohol abstinence is required for patients with AF.
BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that compared with abstinence and heavy drinking, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk of mortality among the general population and patients with heart failure and myocardial infarction. We examined the association between alcohol consumption and mortality in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients.
METHOD: We studied 1,919 first-time CABG patients using data on alcohol consumption and mortality obtained from Danish national registers from March 2006 to October 2011. Alcohol consumption was divided into the following groups: abstainers (0 units/week), moderate consumers (1-14 units/week), moderate-heavy drinkers (15-21 units/week) and heavy drinkers (>21 units/week). Hazard ratios (HR) of all-cause mortality were calculated using Cox proportional hazard regression analysis.
RESULTS: The median follow-up was 2.2 years [IQR 2.0]. There were 112 deaths, of which 96 (86 %) were classified as cardiovascular. Adjustments for age and sex showed no increased risk of all-cause mortality for the abstainers (HR 1.61, 95 % CI, 1.00-2.58) and moderate-heavy drinkers (HR 1.40, 95 % CI, 0.73-2.67) compared with moderate consumers. However, heavy drinkers had a high risk of all-cause mortality compared with moderate consumers (HR 2.44, 95 % CI, 1.47-4.04). A full adjustment showed no increase in mortality for the abstainers (HR 1.59, 95 % CI, 0.98-2.57) and moderate-heavy drinkers (HR 1.68, 95 % CI, 0.86-3.29), while heavy drinkers were associated with an increased mortality rate (HR 1.88, 95 % CI, 1.10-3.21). There was no increased risk of 30-day mortality for the abstainers (HR 0.74, 95 % CI, 0.23-2.32), moderate-heavy drinkers (HR 0.36, 95 % CI, 0.07-1.93) and heavy drinkers (HR 2.20, 95 % CI, 0.65-7.36).
CONCLUSION: There was no increased risk of mortality for abstainers (0 units/week) or moderate-heavy drinkers (15-21 units/week) following a CABG. Only heavy drinking (>21 units/week) were significantly associated with an increased mortality rate. These results suggest that only heavy drinking present a risk factor among CABG patients.
Study of the relationships of alcohol drinking and risk of stroke can readily become mired in the labyrinthine interactions of drinking categorizations, non-linear associations, disparate cardiovascular conditions, and the heterogeneous types of stroke. This Commentary discusses the recent article by Larsson et al. (BMC Medicine 14:178, 2016). The authors split their material into separate meta-analyses of subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, and ischemic stroke, finding disparate alcohol-stroke relationships. Our Commentary pursues the disparity theme, using the lumpers versus splitters paradigm to explore several aspects of this complex area.Please see related article: http://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-016-0721-4.
BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk of numerous cancers, but existing evidence for an association with melanoma is equivocal. No study has evaluated the association with different anatomic locations of melanoma.
METHODS: We used data from three large prospective cohort studies to investigate whether alcohol intake was associated with risk of melanoma. Alcohol intake was assessed repeatedly by food-frequency questionnaires. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs).
RESULTS: A total of 1,374 cases of invasive melanoma were documented during 3,855,706 person-years of follow-up. There was an association between higher alcohol intake and incidence of invasive melanoma (pooled multivariate HR 1.14 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.00-1.29] per drink/day; Ptrend = 0.04). Among alcoholic beverages, white wine consumption was associated with an increased risk of melanoma (pooled multivariate HR 1.13 [95% CI, 1.04-1.24] per drink/day; Ptrend <0.01) after adjusting for other alcoholic beverages. The association between alcohol consumption and melanoma risk was stronger for melanoma in relatively UV-spared sites (trunk) versus more UV-exposed sites (head, neck, or extremities). Compared with nondrinkers, the pooled multivariate-adjusted HRs for >/=20 g/day of alcohol were 1.02 (95% CI, 0.64-1.62; Ptrend = 0.25) for melanomas of the head, neck, and extremities and 1.73 (95% CI, 1.25-2.38; Ptrend = 0.02) for melanomas of the trunk.
CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol intake was associated with a modest increase in the risk of melanoma, particularly in UV-protected sites. IMPACT: These findings further support American Cancer Society Guidelines for Cancer Prevention to limit alcohol intake. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(12); 1550-8. (c)2016 AACR