title: Long-term alcohol and caffeine intake and risk of sudden cardiac death in women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol and caffeine intakes may play a role in the development of sudden cardiac death (SCD) because of their effects on cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate variability, and inflammation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our objective was to examine the association between long-term alcohol and caffeine intakes and risk of SCD in women.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 93,676 postmenopausal women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. Women were enrolled between 1993 and 1998 and were followed until August 2009. Women completed a food-frequency questionnaire at baseline and again at year 3. We modeled exposure to alcohol 3 ways: by using baseline intake only, a cumulative average of baseline and year 3 intake, and the most recent reported intake (a simple time-varying analysis).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intake of 5-15 g alcohol/d (about one drink) was associated with a nonsignificantly reduced risk of SCD compared with 0.1-5 g/d of baseline intake (HR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.40, 1.02), of cumulative average intake (HR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.43, 1.11), and of most recent intake (HR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.96), with adjustment for age, race, income, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, hormone use, and total energy. No association was found between SCD and total caffeine intake (mg/d) or cups of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and caffeinated tea.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that about one drink per day (or 5.1-15 g/d) may be associated with a reduced risk of SCD in this population; however, this association was only statistically significant for a model using the most recent alcohol intake. Total caffeine, regular coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and regular tea intake were not associated with the risk of SCD. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00000611.
authors.affiliation: Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. mbertoia@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Monica L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bertoia
authors.forename: Elizabeth W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Triche
authors.forename: Dominique S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Michaud
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baylin
authors.forename: Joseph W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.forename: Marian L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Neuhouser
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Freiberg
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.forename: Monika M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Safford
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yasmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mossavar-Rahmani
authors.forename: Milagros C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rosal
authors.forename: Charles B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Eaton
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002110:Caffeine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003069:Coffee / Q000737:chemistry; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003069:Coffee; D013662:Tea; D002110:Caffeine