title: Association of drinking pattern and alcohol beverage type with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease in a Mediterranean cohort.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between alcohol consumption and the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and overall cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a Mediterranean cohort. It consisted of a cross-sectional analysis of a representative sample of Greek adults (n = 4,153) classified as never, occasional, mild, moderate, or heavy drinkers. Cases with overt CHD, stroke, or PAD were recorded. In our population, 17% were never, 23% occasional, 27% mild, 24% moderate, and 9% heavy drinkers. Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a lower trend for the prevalence of the MetS (P = .0001), DM (P < .0001), CHD (P = .0002), PAD (P = .005), and overall CVD (P = .001) but not stroke compared with no alcohol use. Heavy drinking was associated with an increase in the prevalence of all of these disease states. Wine consumption was associated with a slightly better effect than beer or spirits consumption on the prevalence of total CVD, and beer consumption was associated with a better effect than spirits consumption. Alcohol intake was positively related with body weight, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and hypertension. Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a lower prevalence of the MetS, DM, PAD, CHD, and overall CVD but not stroke compared with no alcohol use in a Mediterranean population. Heavy drinking was associated with an increase in the prevalence of all of these disease states. Advice on alcohol consumption should probably mainly aim at reducing heavy drinking.
authors.affiliation: Atherosclerosis and Metabolic Syndrome Units, Aristotelean University, Hippocration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Vasilios G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Athyros
authors.forename: Evangelos N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Liberopoulos
authors.forename: Dimitri P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Mikhailidis
authors.forename: Athanasios A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Papageorgiou
authors.forename: Emmanuel S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Ganotakis
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tziomalos
authors.forename: Anna I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Kakafika
authors.forename: Asterios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karagiannis
authors.forename: Stylianos
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lambropoulos
authors.forename: Moses
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elisaf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000517:prevention & control; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001835:Body Weight; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL