Relation of alcohol consumption and coronary heart disease in hypertensive male physicians (from the Physicians' Health Study).

Full Abstract

Alcohol has diverse effects on the cardiovascular system. Moderate drinking is associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, yet increasing amounts of alcohol consumption are known to increase blood pressure. These opposing effects have led to interest in the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with hypertension. To test the hypothesis that moderate alcohol consumption decreases the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with hypertension, we used data on 5,164 participants in the Physicians' Health Study who were apparently healthy and free of CHD at baseline. Incident MI was ascertained by annual follow-up questionnaires and validated through review of medical records. Cox proportional hazard model was used to compute multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. From 1982 to 2008, 623 cases of MI occurred. Compared to subjects consuming <1 drink per week, hazard ratios for MI were 1.05 (95% confidence interval 0.85 to 1.28), 0.78 (95% confidence interval 0.64 to 0.97), and 0.57 (95% confidence interval 0.35 to 0.95) for alcohol consumption of 1 to 4, 5 to 7, and >8 drinks per week adjusted for age, body mass index, smoking, exercise, diabetes, multivitamin use, vegetable intake, breakfast cereal intake, and cholesterol (p for trend <0.0022). Similar inferences could be made for the secondary outcomes of angina pectoris and any CHD (which included MI, angina pectoris, and previous revascularization). In conclusion, our data demonstrated an inverse relation between moderate alcohol consumption and CHD in hypertensive men.

Author information

Author/s: Britton, Kathryn A (KA); Gaziano, John Michael (JM); Sesso, Howard D (HD); Djoussé, Luc (L);

Affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology and Research Information Center (MAVERIC), Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA. kfinnerty(-atsign-)partners.org

Grants: CA-097193 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; CA-34944 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; CA-40360 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; HL-26490 (Agency:NHLBI NIH HHS) ; HL-34595 (Agency:NHLBI NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: The American journal of cardiology (Am J Cardiol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 104 (issue 7) : pp 932-5

Dates: Created 2009/09/21; Completed 2009/10/06;

PMID: 19766759, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/6/2009, IMS Date: )

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