Alcohol and cardiovascular disease: Position Paper of the Czech Society of Cardiology.

Alcohol and cardiovascular disease: Position Paper of the Czech Society of Cardiology. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2019 Dec;27(Supplement):S6-S9 Authors: Cífková R, Krajčoviechová A Abstract Epidemiologic studies consistently report a U-shaped curve relationship between the amount of alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease, with consumption of ≥ three alcoholic drinks being associated with an increased risk. However, the cardioprotective effect of light and moderate alcohol consumption has been recently questioned. In the absence of a randomized trial confirming the cardioprotective effect of light or moderate alcohol consumption, an alternative method to prove the causality is Mendelian randomization using a genetic variant serving as a proxy for alcohol consumption. A Mendelian randomization analysis by Holmes et al. suggests that a reduction in alcohol intake is beneficial for cardiovascular health also in light to moderate drinkers. In a recent analysis of 83 prospective studies, alcohol consumption was roughly linearly associated with a higher risk of stroke, coronary heart disease excluding myocardial infarction, heart failure and risk of death from aortic aneurysm dissection. By contrast, increased alcohol consumption was associated with a lower risk of myocardial infarction. "Low-risk" alcohol consumption recommended by the National Institute of Public Health, Czech Republic, should not exceed 16 g of 100% ethanol/...
Source: Central European Journal of Public Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Cent Eur J Public Health Source Type: research