Women's health in the Lund area (WHILA)--Alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality among women--a 17 year follow-up study

Background

Alcohol consumption contributes to many negative health consequences and is a risk factor for death. Some previous studies however suggest a J-shaped relationship between the level of alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality. These findings have in part been suggested to be due to confounders. The aim of our study was to analyze the relationship between self-reported alcohol intake and all-cause mortality in women, adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle factors and diseases such as diabetes and previous ischemic heart disease.

Methods

All women aged 50–59 years (born between 1935 and 1945) that lived in any of the five municipalities in southern Sweden were invited to participate in a health survey. From December 1995 to February 2000 a total of 6916 women (out of 10,766, the total population of women in 1995) underwent a physical examination and answered a questionnaire. We followed the women from the day of screening until death, or if no event occurred until May 31st 2015. Mortality was ascertained through the national cause-of-death register.

Results

In this study a total of 6353 women were included. Alcohol consumption showed a J-formed relationship with mortality, when adjusted for education, marital status, smoking, BMI, physical fitness, diabetes and ischemic heart disease before screening. Non consumption of alcohol was associated with increased mortality as well as higher levels of consumption, from 12 grams per day and upwards.

Conclusions

There was a clear J-shaped relation between the amount of alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality even after controlling for sociodemography, lifestyle factors and diseases such as diabetes and previous ischemic heart disease. The observed protective effect of light drinking (1–12 grams/day) could thus not be attributed to any of these known confounders.

Cardiovascular risk factors and hearing loss: The HUNT study

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the present paper was to examine the association between prospectively and cross-sectionally assessed cardiovascular risk factors and hearing loss.

DESIGN

Hearing was assessed by pure-tone average thresholds at low (0.25-0.5 kHz), middle (1-2 kHz), and high (3-8 kHz) frequencies. Self-reported or measured cardiovascular risk factors were assessed both 11 years before and simultaneously with the audiometric assessment. Cardiovascular risk factors were smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, waist circumference, body mass index, resting heart rate, blood pressure, triglycerides, total serum cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and diabetes.

STUDY SAMPLE

A population-based cohort of 31 547 subjects.

RESULTS

After adjustment for age, sex, level of education, income, recurrent ear infections, and noise exposure, risk factors associated with poorer hearing sensitivity were smoking, diabetes, physical inactivity, resting heart rate, and waist circumference. Smoking was only associated with hearing loss at high frequencies. The effects were very small, in combination explaining only 0.2-0.4% of the variance in addition to the component explained by age and the other cofactors.

CONCLUSION

This cohort study indicates that, although many cardiovascular risk factors are associated with hearing loss, the effects are small and of doubtful clinical relevance.