Light to moderate alcohol consumption associated with lower risk for PAD
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Key takeaways:
- Light and moderate drinkers had lower risk for developing peripheral artery disease than nondrinkers.
- The risk increased among people consuming 10 or more alcoholic drinks per week.
Researchers found a U-shaped association between alcohol consumption and risk for peripheral artery disease, with the lowest risk seen with consuming two drinks per week and more pronounced risk with at least 10 drinks, study data showed.
“Given that alcohol consumption is a common health-related behavior and has inconsistent associations with PAD, an appraisal of the association between alcohol consumption and PAD risk is of great importance for disease prevention,” Shuai Yuan, PhD student in the unit of cardiovascular and nutritional epidemiology at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues wrote.
In the study, which was published in European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, researchers conducted a systematic review to identify studies evaluating the association between alcohol consumption and PAD risk. They then performed a meta-analysis incorporating data from these studies along with data from the Swedish Infrastructure for Medical Population-Based Life-Course and Environmental Research (SIMPLER; n = 70,116) and the UK Biobank (n = 405,406) cohort studies.
Researchers categorized alcohol consumption as light ( 7 drinks per week), moderate (7.1-14 drinks per week) and high to heavy ( 14.1 drinks per week).
Median follow-up included 21.9 years for the SIMPLER cohort and 11.8 years for the UK Biobank cohort.
After pooling data from two high-quality studies in the systematic review with the SIMPLER and UK Biobank cohorts, researchers identified 21,643 cases of PAD.
The RRs for developing PAD appeared lower among light (RR = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.77-0.89) and moderate (RR = 0.81; 95% CI, 0.74-0.9) alcohol drinkers compared with those who did not drink alcohol.
The decreased risk did not persist among high to heavy drinkers (RR = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83-1.07).
Results of a nonlinear dose-response analysis showed U-shaped association, wherein those at lowest risk for developing PAD consumed two drinks per week, and the risk was more pronounced among people drinking 10 or more drinks per week.
“Light-to-moderate consumption of alcohol was associated with reduced risk of PAD in this meta-analysis of observational studies,” the researchers wrote. “The study further indicated a U-shaped association between alcohol consumption and PAD risk with the risk of PAD becoming more pronounced for alcohol consumption of more than 10 drinks per week. Taking all potential health consequences of alcohol intake into consideration, it is not recommended to initiate alcohol drinking for abstainers.”
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