OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of alcohol as a causal factor for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and whether its effects might vary according to the pathogenic mechanisms underlying cerebral bleeding.
METHODS: We performed a case-control analysis, comparing a cohort of consecutive white patients with ICH aged 55 years and older with a group of age- and sex-matched stroke-free controls, enrolled in the setting of the Multicenter Study on Cerebral Haemorrhage in Italy (MUCH-Italy) between 2002 and 2014. Participants were dichotomized into excessive drinkers (>45 g of alcohol) and light to moderate drinkers or nondrinkers. To isolate the unconfounded effect of alcohol on ICH, we used causal directed acyclic graphs and the back-door criterion to select a minimal sufficient adjustment set(s) of variables for multivariable analyses. Analyses were performed on the whole group as well as separately for lobar and deep ICH.
RESULTS: We analyzed 3,173 patients (1,471 lobar ICH and 1,702 deep ICH) and 3,155 controls. After adjusting for the preselected variables in the minimal sufficient adjustments, heavy alcohol intake was associated with deep ICH risk (odds ratio [OR], 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.36-2.09) as well as with the overall risk of ICH (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.17-1.63), whereas no effect was found for lobar ICH (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.77-1.32).
CONCLUSIONS: In white people aged 55 years and older, high alcohol intake might exert a causal effect on ICH, with a prominent role in the vascular pathologies underlying deep ICH.
BACKGROUND: Binge drinking prevalence rates are highest in young adults; however, little is known about the effects of binge drinking on blood pressure (BP) and other cardiovascular health metrics in individuals between 18 and 45 years of age. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of regular binge drinking on BP, lipid and glucose levels and to determine if there were differences in these associations between men and women.
METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed data from NHANES (the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) for men and women 18 to 45 years old who were non-binge drinkers, binge drank 1 to 12 times, or binge drank >12 times in the past year. After controlling for diet and physical activity, both categories of men binge drinkers compared with non-binge drinkers had higher systolic BP (121.8 and 119.0 mm Hg versus 117.5 mm Hg) and total cholesterol (215.5 and 217.9 mg/dL versus 207.8 mg/dL) values. There were no effects of binge drinking on systolic BP or total cholesterol in women. Binge drinking in men and women was associated with higher high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol values. The effects of binge drinking on glucose parameters in men and women were variable.
CONCLUSIONS: Compared with young adult women, repeated binge drinking in men was associated with an elevated systolic BP, and greater frequency of binge drinking in men was associated with a more unfavorable lipid profile. In young adults with elevated systolic BP, practitioners should consider the possible role of binge drinking and address the importance of reducing alcohol intake as an important cardiovascular risk reduction strategy.
BACKGROUND: Although epidemiological evidence for the beneficial effect of low alcohol consumption on myocardial infarction is strong, the impact of heavy drinking episodes is less clear.
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between the risk for acute myocardial infarction occurrence and alcohol consumption.
METHODS: Our hospital-based case-control study comprised 374 participants (187 newly diagnosed patients with myocardial infarction and 187 controls, individually matched by gender, age, and place of residence). This study was performed in Kragujevac (a city in Serbia) during 2010. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).
RESULTS: The history of alcohol consumption in patients with acute myocardial infarction and their controls did not differ significantly: the percentage of those that were consuming alcohol was slightly higher in cases (54.5%) than in controls (50.3%). The habit of binge drinking during the previous 12 months was significantly more common in cases (25.1%) than in controls (12.8%): adjusted OR = 2.2 (95%CI = 1.2-4.2, p = 0.017), p for trend = 0.015. Analysis of binge drinking by age, gender and place of residence revealed that the increase in risk for acute myocardial infarction was associated with older age (adjusted OR = 5.1, 95%CI = 1.7-15.1, p for trend = 0.010), male gender (adjusted OR = 2.3, 95%CI = 1.1-5.2, p for trend = 0.028) and rural place of residence (adjusted OR = 4.8, 95%CI = 1.3-18.5, p for trend = 0.033).
CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that binge drinking is associated with twice the risk for myocardial infarction compared to not drinking. Since consumption of alcohol is very common in the Serbian population, the effect of binge drinking on myocardial infarction should be considered an important public health issue.
BACKGROUND: Findings from studies of alcohol and obesity measures (eg, waist circumference [WC] and body mass index [BMI; calculated as kg/m(2)]) are conflicting. Residual confounding by dietary intake, inconsistent definitions of alcohol consumption across studies, and the inclusion of former drinkers in the nondrinking comparison group can contribute to the mixed literature.
OBJECTIVE: This study examines associations of alcoholic beverage consumption with dietary intake, WC, and BMI.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional data from the 2003-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed.
PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Adults 20 to 79 years of age (n=7,436 men; n=6,939 women) were studied.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Associations of alcoholic beverage consumption with energy (kcal), macronutrient and sugar intakes (% kcal), WC, and BMI were determined.
STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Multivariable linear regression models were used to determine associations of average daily volume and drinking quantity (ie, drinks per drinking day) with dietary intake and obesity measures. Former and never drinkers were analyzed as distinct categories; associations of drinking with WC and BMI were examined with and without adjustment for dietary intake variables.
RESULTS: Heavier-drinking men (>/=3 drinks/day) and women (>/=2 drinks/day) consumed less nonalcoholic energy (beta -252 kcal/day, 95% CI -346 to -159 kcal/day and beta -159 kcal/day, 95% CI -245 to -73 kcal/day, respectively) than moderate drinkers (1 to 2 drinks/day in men and 1 drink/day in women). By average daily drinking volume, differences in WC and BMI between former and moderate drinkers were +1.78 cm (95% CI 0.51 to 3.05 cm) and +0.65 (95% CI 0.12 to 1.18) in men and +4.67 cm (95% CI 2.95 to 6.39 cm) and +2.49 (95% CI 1.64 to 3.34) in women. Compared with moderate drinking, heavier drinking volume was not associated with WC or BMI among men or women. In men, drinking >/=5 drinks/drinking day was associated with higher WC (beta 3.48 cm, 95% CI 1.97 to 5.00 cm) and BMI (beta 1.39, 95% CI 0.79 to 2.00) compared with men who consumed 1 to 2 drinks/drinking day. In women, WC and BMI were not significantly different for women drinking >/=4 drinks/drinking day compared with 1 drink/drinking day.
CONCLUSIONS: Differences in dietary intake across drinking subgroups and separation of former drinkers from nondrinkers should be considered in studies of alcohol intake in relation to WC and BMI.