Beer, wine, spirits and mortality

Introduction: The aim of the present population-based cohort study was to examine the association between alcohol intake and mortality from all causes, coronary heart disease, and cancer. Methods: A prospective population study with baseline assessment of beer, wine and spirit consumption, smoking habits, educational level, physical activity, and body mass index in a total of 257,859 person-years follow-up on mortality. Results: A total of 4833 participants died, 1075 of these from coronary heart disease and 1552 of cancer. Compared with non-drinkers, light drinkers, who avoided wine, had a relative risk of death from all causes of 0.90 (0.82-0.99) and those who drank wine had a relative risk of 0.66 (0.55-0.77). Heavy drinkers, who avoided wine, were at higher risk of death from all causes than were heavy drinkers, who included wine in their alcohol consumption. Wine drinkers had a significantly lower mortality from both coronary heart disease and cancer than had non-wine drinkers (p=0.007 and p=0.004, respectively). Conclusion: A moderate consumption of wine may have a beneficial effect on all causes of mortality, which is additive to that of alcohol. This effect may be attributable to a reduction in death from both coronary heart disease and cancer.