Search resultsSmoking history, alcohol consumption, sports activity and the risk of developing systemic lupus erythematosus in a Japanese population
Objective: Smoking has been reported to increase the risk of SLE. However, it is controversial whether the risk of SLE decreases among alcohol drinkers or not. Furthermore, there is little information regarding the association between sports activity and the risk of SLE. We conducted a case-control study to examine the risk of developing SLE in relation to smoking history, alcohol consumption and sports activity. Methods: Cases were 59 SLE patients and controls were 244 new outpatients who visited the general internal medicine clinics. Logistic regression was used to assess the adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Ever-smokers (current and former smokers combined vs. never-smokers: OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.10 to 4.16), heavy drinkers (30 ml of ethanol/day or more vs. 29 ml of ethanol/day or less: OR = 2.86, 95% CI = 1.50 to 5.47) and those with a high frequency of sports activity (5 days/week or more vs. 3-4days/week or less : OR = 2.19, 95% CI = 1.14 to 4.18) showed an increased risk of SLE even after controlling for age, sex, and other two factors. Conclusions: The present study suggests that smoking history, a high frequency of sports activity and heavy alcohol consumption may be risk factors for SLE.