Moderate Norwegian wine drinkers with a lower cardiovascular mortality
In this study, among moderate drinkers in their early forties, an inverse association between moderate wine consumption and Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) mortality was observed.
Norwegian researchers examined whether teetotalism explains the increased cardiovascular risk for non-drinkers and whether wine is a more favorable alcoholic beverage. They studied 115,592 men and women, aged 40-44 years, who participated in the “Age-40-program” in Norway. During the average follow-up period of 16 years, 550 cardiovascular deaths occurred. Teetotalers had a higher CVD mortality than alcohol consumers, likely due to selection of previous alcohol users in the abstainer group. The results further showed a 24 % lower risk per one unit of wine per day.
The researchers concluded that among drinkers of alcoholic beverages in their early forties, there was no association between quantity and cardiovascular mortality. However, they acknowledged that moderate wine consumption gave the most favorable risk estimates with an inverse association between wine intake and CVD mortality (but no relationship with the other types of alcoholic beverages was found).
Tverdal A, Magnus P, Selmer R, Thelle D. Consumption of alcohol and cardiovascular disease mortality: a 16 year follow-up of 115,592 Norwegian men and women aged 40-44 years. Eur J Epidemiol. 2017 Sep 21. [Epub ahead of print]
For more information about this article, read the scientific abstract here.
1 drink = 8 g of ethanol
Categories of drinking was defined as:
>0-0.5 alcoholic drinks/d
0.5-1 alcoholic drinks/d
1-1.5 alcoholic drinks/d
1.5-2 alcoholic drinks/d
2-3 alcoholic drinks/d
3->4 alcoholic drinks/d