Contrasting association between alcohol consumption and risk of myocardial infarction and heart failure: Two prospective cohorts.

BACKGROUND

The potential cardioprotective effect of light-to-moderate alcohol consumption is disputed, and the association between heavy drinking and heart failure (HF) risk is unclear. We examined the association between alcohol consumption and risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and HF in two prospective cohorts.

METHODS

We analyzed data from the Cohort of Swedish Men (40,590 men) and the Swedish Mammography Cohort (34,022 women). Participants were free of ischemic heart disease and HF at baseline. MI and HF cases were ascertained by linkage with the Swedish National Patient Register. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS

During follow-up (1998-2010), we ascertained 3678 and 1905 cases of MI and HF, respectively, in men and 1500 and 1328 cases of MI and HF, respectively, in women. Alcohol consumption was inversely associated with MI in both men and women (P trend <0.001); compared with light drinkers, the multivariable HRs were 0.70 (95% CI, 0.56-0.87) in men who consumed >28 drinks/week and 0.32 (95% CI, 0.15-0.67) in women who consumed 15-21 drinks/week. Alcohol consumption was not inversely associated with HF risk. However, in men, the risk of HF was higher in never, former, and heavy drinkers (>28 drinks/week; HR=1.45; 95% CI, 1.09-1.93) compared with light drinkers.

CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol consumption has divergent associations with MI and HF, with an inverse association observed for MI but not HF. Heavy drinking was associated with an increased HF risk in men.