title: Modest alcohol consumption reduces the incidence of fatty liver in men: a population-based large-scale cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent cross-sectional studies have been reported the possibility that light to moderate alcohol consumption might be negatively associated with fatty liver. However, there has been no large-scale longitudinal study addressing an impact of alcohol consumption on a development of fatty liver diagnosed by ultrasonography. Thus, we investigated the impact of alcohol consumption on a natural history of fatty liver.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 5437 apparently healthy Japanese who received the health checkup programs repeatedly over 10 years. In this study, we used a standardized questionnaire for addressing the medical history and lifestyle and used a standardized ultrasonographic diagnosis for fatty liver. The total amount of alcohol consumed per week was calculated and classified into four grades; none or minimal, light, moderate, or heavy alcohol consumption (< 40, 40-140, 140-280 or > 280 g/week, respectively). The hazard risks of alcohol consumption for the development of fatty liver were calculated by Cox hazard model after adjusting age, BMI, and parameters for lifestyle.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 10 years of follow-up, fatty liver was continuously diagnosed just in 10% of men and 20% of women with fatty liver at the baseline. In men, the adjusted hazard risks of light and moderate alcohol consumption for the development of fatty liver were 0.72 (95% confidence interval 0.60-0.86, P < 0.001) and 0.69 (0.57-0.84, P < 0.001), respectively. However, they were not significant in women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The newly onset of fatty liver was significantly repressed in apparently healthy men who consume light to moderate alcohol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Masahide
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamaguchi
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohshima
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohbora
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Michiaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D044466:Asian People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: NAFLD; epidemiology; fatty liver; obesity