News

Heavy alcohol consumption in midlife boosts later stroke risk


 

FROM STROKE

References

Heavy alcohol consumption in midlife may shorten the time to a stroke event by 5 years, although the increased risk of stroke in heavy drinkers also decreases with age, researchers have found.

Analysis of data from 11,644 individuals in the population-based Swedish Twin Registry showed that heavy drinkers – those who consumed more than two drinks a day – had a 34% greater risk of stroke, compared with very light drinkers (less than 0.5 drinks per day), and their time to stroke was shorter by more than 5 years, according to data published online Jan. 29 in Stroke [doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.114.006724].

©Thinkstockphotos.com

Age had a significant impact on the effect of alcohol: Increasing age was related to increasing risk of stroke in nondrinkers but a decreasing risk of stroke for heavy drinkers, whose risk of stroke was highest soon after the baseline median age of 50 years and reached almost zero at 85 years.

“Our results show that risk of stroke associated with heavy drinking in midlife is at least comparable with stroke risk associated with risk factors such as diabetes mellitus or hypertension; however, the age when those risk factors are relevant is different,” wrote Pavla Kadlecová, M.Sc., of St. Anne’s Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic, and colleagues.

The study was funded by European Regional Development Fund–FNUSA-ICRC. There were no conflicts of interest disclosed.

Recommended Reading

Aspirin, Warfarin Show Equal Heart Failure Efficacy
MDedge Psychiatry
Solitaire Trumped Merci in Stroke Clot Retrieval Trial
MDedge Psychiatry
Clot-Busters Safely Treated Wake-Up Stroke Patients
MDedge Psychiatry
Air Pollution May Hurt Cognition, Increase Strokes
MDedge Psychiatry
Filgrastim Fails to Improve Ischemic Stroke Outcomes
MDedge Psychiatry
Stroke Association Reviewing Stroke Definition, New Anticoagulants
MDedge Psychiatry
Asymptomatic Carotid Disease Impairs Cognitive Function
MDedge Psychiatry
Depressed stroke survivors at increased risk of death
MDedge Psychiatry
Stroke: The brave new world of prevention and treatment
MDedge Psychiatry
Anxiety heightens risk of stroke
MDedge Psychiatry