Serum Insulin Concentrations in Daily Drinkers Compared With Abstainers in the New Mexico Elder Health Survey

Alcohol consumption and risk of multiple myeloma in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study

The epidemiologic evidence regarding the relationship between alcohol consumption and multiple myeloma (MM) risk remains limited and inconsistent, although recent studies suggest a potential protective effect. We prospectively investigated the risk of MM in relation to alcohol consumption frequency among 499,292 participants enrolled in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-AARP Diet and Health Study in 1995-1996. A total of 1,312 MM cases were identified during follow-up through December 2011. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for categories of alcohol consumption relative to those defined as light drinkers (<1 drink/week) were estimated using multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. Overall, increasing frequency of alcohol consumption was inversely associated with MM (p-trend = 0.01), with a statistically significant association among those who consumed 2 drinks per day (HR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.50, 0.98); similar but not statistically significant associations were observed for greater frequency of alcohol consumption. Among women, risk of MM was reduced among those who consumed less than one drink per day (HR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.56, 0.97) and associations with greater frequency of alcohol consumption were inverse although not statistically significant. The findings of this large prospective investigation suggest that moderate alcohol consumption may be associated with reduced future risk of MM.

Alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors in older lifelong wine drinkers: the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

A protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the cardiovascular system has consistently been reported, but limited evidence has been produced on the association of alcohol with metabolic factors in the elderly. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between different levels of current alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors in a representative sample of elderly Italian men, mainly wine drinkers.

METHODS AND RESULTS

This is a cross-sectional multi-centre study on a population-based sample of Italian men aged 65-84 years, drawn from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA) cohort. The analyses included 1896 men. Almost all the drinkers (98%) drank wine as a lifelong habit. Adjusted ORs for risk levels for cardiovascular factors (BMI, waist circumference, fibrinogen, α2 protein, white blood cells, HDL cholesterol, Apo A-I, total cholesterol, Apo B-I, triglycerides, LDL, glycated hemoglobin, insulin, fasting plasma glucose, HOMA IR, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) were estimated, comparing drinkers with teetotalers using multivariate logistic regression models. We found alcohol consumption in older age associated with healthier hematological values of fibrinogen, HDL cholesterol, Apo A-I lipoprotein and insulin, but it was also associated with a worse hematological picture of total, LDL cholesterol levels, and systolic pressure.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicated in elderly moderate wine drinkers a noticeably safe metabolic, inflammatory and glycemic profile that might balance higher blood pressure, leading to a net benefit. These findings however need to be placed in relation to the known adverse social and health effects of heavy drinking.

Cognitive function in drinkers compared to abstainers in the New Mexico elder health survey

BACKGROUND

Recent epidemiological studies have shown that individuals who ingest alcohol regularly have a higher level of cognitive function and are less likely to develop dementia than those who abstain. The purpose of this study was to compare nine measures of cognitive function in drinkers compared to abstainers.

METHODS

A cross-sectional community survey was conducted of 883 randomly selected Hispanic and non-Hispanic white men and women, age >or=65 years of age, undergoing a paid home interview and 4-hour interview/examination in a senior health clinic (The New Mexico Elder Health Survey). The interviews included questions on frequency and quantity of alcohol ingested.

RESULTS

Participants who consumed alcohol had significantly better mean scores on 7 of 9 cognitive function tests and less frequently had scores below selected "cut points" compared to those who abstained from all alcohol intake. Scoring used multivariate linear and logistic regression models adjusted for sex, ethnicity, age, level of education, and evidence of depression.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants in the New Mexico Elder Health Survey (nearly equal numbers of Hispanic and non-Hispanic white men and women) who consumed alcohol had better scores on their cognitive tests than did those participants who abstained.

Alcohol consumption and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: a pooled analysis

BACKGROUND

Previous epidemiological studies of the relation between alcohol consumption and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) have been inconsistent, probably because of small sample sizes of individual studies that result from stratification by NHL subtype and type of alcoholic beverage. We aimed to assess the role of alcohol consumption in NHL with sufficient sample size to analyse by both type of alcoholic beverage and disease subtype.

METHODS

We obtained original data from nine case-control studies from the USA, UK, Sweden, and Italy in the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph), yielding a pooled study population of 15 175 individuals (6492 cases and 8683 controls). We derived odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI from unconditional logistic regression models, controlling for study centre and other confounding factors. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed by comparison of results from joint fixed-effects logistic regression and two-stage random-effects logistic regression, and by calculation of Wald chi(2) statistics.

FINDINGS

People who drank alcohol had a lower risk of NHL than did non-drinkers (OR 0.83 [95% CI 0.76-0.89]). Compared with non-drinkers, risk estimates were lower for current drinkers than for former drinkers (0.73 [0.64-0.84] vs 0.95 [0.80-1.14]), but risk did not decrease with increasing alcohol consumption. The protective effect of alcohol did not vary by beverage type, but did change with NHL subtype. The lowest risk estimates were recorded for Burkitt's lymphoma (0.51 [0.33-0.77]).

INTERPRETATION

People who drink alcoholic beverages might have a lower risk of NHL than those who do not, and this risk might vary by NHL subtype. Further study designs are needed to determine whether confounding lifestyle factors or immunomodulatory effects of alcohol explain this association.