Alcohol Consumption and Mortality from Aortic Dissection and Aneurysm among Middle-aged Japanese Men and Women: The Japanese Collaborative Cohort Study (JACC)
METHODS: The JACC Study is a nation-wide community-based cohort study involving 45 Japanese communities. Between 1988 and 1990, 110 585 men and women, aged 40 to 79 years, completed a self-administrated questionnaire including information about alcohol consumption and were followed up for a median duration of 17.9 years. Subjects who reported cancer or cardiovascular disease history, or did not provide information about drinking habits, were excluded. Mortality from thoracic aortic disease (aortic dissection and thoracic aortic aneurysm) and abdominal aortic aneurysm was identified by ICD-10 codes on the death certificate.
RESULTS: Of the 75 556 responders (32 032 men and 43 523 women), 104 men and 73 women died from aortic disease. For men, compared with nondrinkers, light-to-moderate alcohol consumption (less than 46 g of ethanol intake per day) was associated with reduced risk of mortality from thoracic aortic disease, whereas heavy alcohol consumption (more than 46 g of ethanol intake per day) was not. The respective multivariable hazard ratios (95 percent confidence interval) were 0.32 (0.14 to 0.72) and 0.99 (0.51 to 1.94). Current male drinkers had reduced risk of mortality from abdominal aortic aneurysm with the multivariable hazard ratio of 0.46 (0.23 to 0.91). For women, drinkers seemed to have reduced risk of mortality from thoracic aortic disease with the multivariable hazard ratio of 0.22 (0.05 to 0.92) compared with nondrinkers.
CONCLUSIONS: There was a U-shaped relationship between alcohol consumption and risk of mortality from thoracic aortic disease.