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TUESDAY, May 5, 2020 (HealthDay News) – Large amounts of alcohol may increase risk of stroke, Swedish researchers report.
Excessive alcohol consumption can triple your risk of peripheral arterial disease, a narrowing of the arteries that results in reduced blood flow, usually to the legs. It can also increase your risk of stroke by 27%. There is also evidence of a link to coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation and aortic aneurysm, the researchers said.
“Our study indicates that alcohol consumption increases the risk of high blood pressure and certain cardiovascular diseases and therefore should be consumed in moderation or not,” said lead researcher Susanna Larsson, associate professor of epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. . .
Although it is unclear exactly how alcohol increases the risk of stroke, Larsson said that drinking increases blood pressure, making it a likely explanation.
A unique aspect of this study was how it was done. Rather than relying on people reporting their level of alcohol consumption, the researchers used a method known as Mendelian randomization. It scans people’s genes to determine if they have mutations known to be associated with potential risk factors. In this case, they looked for genetic variations that influence heart disease and alcohol consumption.
“Genetic variants are randomly classified at conception, cannot be modified, and are not associated with other self-selected behaviors or environmental factors that could bias the results,” said Larsson.
While the study design allowed the researchers to isolate the role of alcohol, it did not allow them to determine the level of alcohol consumption that caused harm.
“We can’t say that drinking below a certain amount is ‘safe,'” Larsson said.
Dr. Larry Goldstein, president of neurology at the University of Kentucky at Lexington, reviewed the findings.
He said studies that identify a link between a potential risk factor and a pattern-based disease in the community have several limitations that make it difficult to establish cause and effect. New research counteracts that.
“In this study, the genetic variations associated with alcohol consumption were used to reflect actual alcohol consumption and supported a causal association with stroke, possibly through an effect on blood pressure,” he said. “The results support previous studies using this technique.”
For the study, Larsson’s team used genetic data from several large-scale consortia and the UK Biobank, which includes 500,000 people.
The American Heart Association noted that alcohol can be part of a healthy diet when consumed in moderation.
Moderate consumption is no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks for men. A drink means 12 ounces of beer (5% alcohol); 5 ounces of wine (12% alcohol); or 1.5 ounces of 80 proof liquor, such as bourbon, vodka, or gin (40% alcohol).
Because the number of heavy drinkers in the study was low, Larsson said the additional risk of stroke is probably not limited to just them. She said it was not possible to know how much or how often people drank.
Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that many studies have linked alcohol consumption to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke. These studies have contributed to the perception that alcohol may have benefits for protecting the heart, he said.
“However, these observational studies are subject to bias, and there have been no large-scale randomized trials to provide high-quality evidence,” he said.
However, the new findings are evidence that drinking has no heart health benefit, Fonarow said.
“It further suggests that the findings from previous observational data were likely the result of confounding factors,” he said. “It also raises the possibility that there may be other cardiovascular risks associated with alcohol that should be considered.”
The report was published online May 5 in the magazine. Circulation: genomic and precision medicine.
More information
For more information on alcohol and heart disease, visit the American Heart Association.
SOURCES: Susanna Larsson, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Larry Goldstein, M.D., professor and chair, department of neurology, University of Kentucky, Lexington; Gregg Fonarow, M.D., professor of cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles; May 5, 2020 Circulation: genomic and precision medicineonline
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