title: Effects of alcohol consumption on mortality in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Moderate alcohol intake has been associated with increased life expectancy due to reduced mortality from cardiovascular disease. We prospectively examined the effects of alcohol consumption on mortality in Type 2 diabetic patients in Switzerland.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 287 patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (125 women, 162 men), recruited in Switzerland for the WHO Multinational Study of Vascular Disease in Diabetes, were included in this study. After a follow-up period of 12.6+/-0.6 years (means +/- SD), mortality from CHD and from all causes was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the follow-up, 70 deaths occurred (21 from CHD, 49 from other causes). Compared with non-drinkers, alcohol consumers who drank alcohol 1 to 15 g, 16 to 30 g and 30 g or more per day had the following risk rates of death from CHD: 0.87 (95% CI: 0.25 to 2.51, NS), 0.00 (95% CI: 0.00 to 0.92, p less than 0.05) and 0.37 (95% CI, 0.01 to 2.42, NS), respectively. The corresponding risk rates of death from all causes were 1.27 (95% CI: 0.68 to 2.28, NS), 0.36 (95% CI: 0.09 to 0.99, p less than 0.05) and 1.66 (95% CI: 0.76 to 3.33, NS).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Swiss Type 2 diabetic patients moderate alcohol consumption of 16 to 30 g per day was associated with reduced mortality from CHD and from all causes. Alcohol intake above 30 g per day was associated with a tendency towards increased all-cause mortality.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000401:mortality*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000401:mortality*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013557:Switzerland; D013997:Time Factors