title: Alcohol consumption and risk for stroke among Chinese men.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stroke is a leading cause of death and long-term disability in China. The objective of this study was to examine the relation between alcohol consumption and risk for stroke among Chinese men.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a prospective cohort study among 64,338 Chinese men aged > or = 40 years who were free of stroke at baseline. Data on frequency and type of alcohol consumed were collected at the baseline examination in 1991 using a standard protocol. Follow-up evaluation was conducted in 1999 to 2000, which included determining vital status, interviewing participants or proxies, and obtaining hospital and medical records for incident and fatal strokes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over the course of 493,351 person-years of follow-up, we documented 3,434 incident strokes (1,848 stroke deaths). After adjustment for age, body mass index, physical activity, urbanization (urban vs rural), geographic variation (north vs south), cigarette smoking, history of diabetes, and education, compared with nondrinkers, relative risk (95% confidence interval) of incident stroke was 0.92 (0.80-1.06) for participants consuming 1 to 6 drinks/week, 1.02 (0.93-1.13) for those consuming 7 to 20 drinks/week, 1.22 (1.07-1.38) for those consuming 21 to 34 drinks/week, and 1.22 (1.08-1.37) for those consuming 35 or more drinks per week (p for linear trend < 0.0001). The corresponding relative risks for stroke mortality were 0.93 (0.76-1.14), 0.98 (0.85-1.13), 1.15 (0.95-1.38), and 1.30 (1.11-1.52), respectively (p for linear trend = 0.0004; p for quadratic trend = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that heavy alcohol drinking may increase the risk for stroke in Chinese men and should be the target of strategies for prevention.
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112-2715, USA. lbazzano@tulane.edu
authors: Lydia A
authors: LA
authors: Bazzano
authors: Dongfeng
authors: D
authors: Gu
authors: Kristi
authors: K
authors: Reynolds
authors: Xiqui
authors: X
authors: Wu
authors: Chiung-Shiuan
authors: CS
authors: Chen
authors: Xiufang
authors: X
authors: Duan
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Chen
authors: Rachel P
authors: RP
authors: Wildman
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Klag
authors: Jiang
authors: J
authors: He
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D044466:Asian People; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D018570:Risk Assessment; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality