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Volume 341:1557-1564 November 18, 1999 Number 21 Next

	Full Text PDF Editorial by Hommel, M. Letters Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

ABSTRACT

Background Several studies have shown U- or J-shaped relations between alcohol consumption and the risk of stroke. We evaluated the effect of light-to-moderate alcohol intake on the risk of stroke, with separate analyses of ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke.

Methods Our analyses were based on a prospective cohort study of 22,071 male physicians, 40 to 84 years old, who were participating in the Physicians' Health Study. At base line, the participants reported that they had no history of stroke, transient ischemic attack, or myocardial infarction and were free of cancer. Alcohol intake, reported by 21,870 participants at base line, ranged from none or almost none to two or more drinks per day.

Results During an average of 12.2 years of follow-up, 679 strokes were reported. As compared with participants who had less than one drink per week, those who drank more had a reduced overall risk of stroke (relative risk, 0.79; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.66 to 0.94) and a reduced risk of ischemic stroke (relative risk, 0.77; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.63 to 0.94). There was no statistically significant association between alcohol consumption and hemorrhagic stroke. The overall relative risks of stroke for the men who had one drink per week, two to four drinks per week, five or six drinks per week, or one or more drinks per day were 0.78 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.59 to 1.04), 0.75 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.58 to 0.96), 0.83 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.62 to 1.11), and 0.80 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.64 to 0.99), respectively, in an analysis in which we controlled for major risk factors for stroke.

Conclusions Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption reduces the overall risk of stroke and the risk of ischemic stroke in men. The benefit is apparent with as little as one drink per week. Greater consumption, up to one drink per day, does not increase the observed benefit.

Source Information

From the Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital (K.B., U.A.A., J.M.G., J.E.B., R.J.G.); the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, Department of Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System (J.M.G.); the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School (J.E.B.); the Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health (R.J.G.); the Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine (C.S.K.) — all in Boston; the Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine and the Department of Neurology, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany (K.B.); and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami (C.H.H.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Ajani at the Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 900 Commonwealth Ave. E., Boston, MA 02215, or at uajani{at}rics.bwh.harvard.edu.

Full Text of this Article

Related Letters:

Alcohol Consumption and the Risk of Stroke
Lowenfels A. B., Maisonneuve P., Longstreth W.T., Psaty B. M., Berger K., Kase C. S., Ajani U. A.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 2000; 342:1137-1138, Apr 13, 2000. Correspondence

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