Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may reduce the risk of developing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a Swedish cohort study suggested.

by Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today
June 26, 2014

Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may reduce the risk of developing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a Swedish cohort study suggested.

Among current drinkers, consuming up to 10 drinks per week in men and up to five drinks per week in women — compared with drinking one — was associated with lower risks of developing AAA over an average of 12.7 years of follow-up (P=0.03 for men and P=0.001 for women), according to Otto Stackelberg, MD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues.

The risk was 20% lower in men tossing back 10 drinks per week (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.68-0.94) and 43% lower in women consuming five drinks per week (HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.40-0.82) after adjustment for potential confounders, including smoking, the researchers reported online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The relationships were particularly strong for beer consumption in men and wine consumption in women.

“This study adds to the evidence that … nondistilled alcoholic beverages may possess protective properties against the development of abdominal aortic aneurysm,” the authors wrote, adding, however, that “the effect of higher doses of alcohol on the risk of the disease remains unknown.”

They noted, too, that “given the potential adverse effects, alcohol consumption is not recommended as a preventive approach for any disease, and the American Heart Association recommends a maximum daily consumption of no more than two drinks for men, and one drink for women” among those who choose to drink.

Established risk factors for AAA are male sex, older age, and smoking, but some other potential variables have been explored. Two prior studies — one restricted to men free from cardiovascular disease and the other to male smokers — have examined alcohol consumption in relation to AAA, but the results were conflicting.

To look at the issue in a broader cohort of patients, Stackelberg and colleagues analyzed data from 44,715 men participating in the Cohort of Swedish Men and 35,569 women participating in the Swedish Mammography Cohort who had no history of AAA at baseline.

Alcohol consumption — based on one glass of alcohol containing 12 grams of ethanol — was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, and cases of AAA were identified through three Swedish national registries.

During up to 14 years of follow-up, AAA was detected in 1,020 men (2.3%) and 194 women (0.5%). The average ages at detection were 74 and 76, respectively.

The inverse relationships between alcohol consumption and the risk of AAA in men and women who were considered current drinkers remained consistent when never and former drinkers were added to the analyses.

In a secondary analysis, the researchers found that total alcohol consumption was not significantly associated AAA risk in patients who did not have cardiovascular disease (free from disease at baseline and censored from the date of being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease during follow-up).

The authors acknowledged that the study was limited by the lack of routine screening for AAA and by the possible misclassification of alcohol consumption. Also, few participants — 3.6% of men and 2.2% of women — reported heavy drinking, and thus, the study could not address the association between higher amounts of consumption and AAA risk.

“Heavy alcohol consumption, and binge drinking, is related to numerous adverse effects on health (e.g., an increased risk of dependence problems, all-cause mortality, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, many cancers, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, hemorrhagic stroke), and may increase the risk of AAA, putatively mediated via hypertension, as reported [in a prior study],” they wrote.

From the American Heart Association:

• Cardiovascular and Overall Mortality Risk in Relation to Alcohol Consumption in Patients With Cardiovascular Disease