Wine Information Council
february 2014
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Alcohol drinking patterns and biomarkers of coronary risk in the Spanish population

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: To estimate the association between patterns of alcohol consumption and biomarkers of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Cross-sectional studyThe defining feature of a cross-sectional study is that it can compare different population groups a... among 10,793 individuals representative of the Spanish population aged >/=18 years. The threshold between moderate and heavy drinking was 40 g of alcohol/day in men and 24 g/day in women. Binge drinkingBinge drinking (consuming rapidly four or more alcoholic drinks over a short period of time) has bee... was defined as intake of >/=80 g of alcohol in men and >/=60 g in women at any drinking occasion in the preceding 30 days. Analyses were performed with generalized linear models with adjustment for the main confounders, and results were expressed as the percentage change in the geometric mean (PCGM). Compared to non-drinkers, moderate and heavy drinkers had progressively higher serum HDL-cholesterol, with a PCGM ranging from 4.8% (95% CI: 3.7-6.0%) in moderate drinkers without binge drinking (MNB) to 9.6% (5.1-14.2%) in heavy drinkers with binge drinking (HB). Fibrinogen decreased progressively with alcohol intake, from -2.2% (-3.1 to -1.3%) in MNB to -5.8% (-9.4 to -2.0%) in HB. Leptin, glycated hemoglobin and the HOMA-index also decreased with increasing alcohol intake, and particularly with binge drinking.

CONCLUSIONS: Moderate alcohol intake is associated with improved HDL-cholesterol, fibrinogen and markers of glucose metabolism, which is consistent with the reduced CHD risk of moderate drinkers in many studies. Heavy and binge drinking were also associated with favorable levels of CHD biomarkers; since these drinking patterns produce substantial health harms, our results should not be used to promote alcohol consumption.

Additional Info

  • Authors

    Galan I.; Valencia-Martin J.L.; Guallar-Castillon P.; Rodriguez-Artalejo F.

  • Issue

    Nutr.Metab Cardiovasc.Dis. / pages 189-197 / volume 24

  • Published Date

    february 2014

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