Alcohol consumption and risk of coronary heart disease among men with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Title
Alcohol consumption and risk of coronary heart disease among men with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Publication type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2001
Journal
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Volume
38
Issue
7
Pagination
1836 - 1842
Date published
2001
ISBN
07351097 (ISSN)
Abstract

OBJECTIVES. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between alcohol intake and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) among men with type 2 diabetes. BACKGROUND. Type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of CHD. Emerging evidence suggests that moderate alcohol intake is associated with an important reduction in risk of CHD in individuals with type 2 diabetes. METHODS. We studied 2,419 men who reported a diagnosis of diabetes at age 30 or older in the Health Professionals' Follow-up study (HPFS). During 11,411 person-years of follow-up after diagnosis, we documented 150 new cases of CHD (81 nonfatal myocardial infarction [MI] and 69 fatal CHD). Relative risks (RR) were estimated from pooled logistic regression adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS. Alcohol use was inversely associated with risk of CHD in men with type 2 diabetes. The age-adjusted RRs corresponding to intakes of ≤0.5 drinks/day, 0.5 to 2 drinks/day and >2 drinks/day were 0.76 (95% confidence interval: [CI]: 0.52 to 1.12), 0.64 (95% CI: 0.40 to 1.02) and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.32 to 1.09), respectively, as compared with nondrinkers (p for trend = 0.06). When we controlled for body mass index, smoking, family history of MI, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, duration of diabetes, physical activity level, vitamin E supplements and intake of trans fat, polyunsaturated fat, fiber and folate, RRs were 0.78 (95% CI: 0.52 to 1.15), 0.62 (95% CI: 0.40 to 1.00) and 0.48 (95% CI: 0.25 to 0.94) (p for trend = 0.03). The benefits of moderate consumption did not statistically differ by beverage type. CONCLUSIONS. Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower risk of CHD in men with type 2 diabetes.