BACKGROUND: In explaining recent trends in Russian mortality, @entity167 drinking has often been put forward as a major factor. However, @entity65 remains the major cause of @entity204 in Russia and @entity167 is currently viewed as having a protective effect on @entity299 . This study explores this apparent paradox by examining daily trends in @entity204 from @entity65 in Moscow. SUBJECTS: Those dying in Moscow in the years 1993-1995. METHODS: Analysis of daily variation in @entity204 based on data from Moscow City @entity204 certificates. RESULTS: There is a significant increase in @entity204 from @entity167 @entity4968 , accidents, and violence and @entity65 on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. This is especially marked for sudden @entity204 . This pattern is consistent with the known pattern of drinking in Russia, which is more likely to take place in binges than is the case in other countries. CONCLUSION: A possible causative role for @entity167 in sudden @entity65 is suggested as there are no other obvious explanations for this pattern, which cannot be accounted for by daily variations in traditional risk factors such as smoking or lipids. Although this is inconsistent with the prevailing view in the West that @entity167 is seen as cardioprotective, there is considerable supporting evidence from a necropsy study and from studies in other places with a similar pattern of drinking. In countries such as Russia, where patterns of drinking differ considerably from that in the West, binge drinking can be an important cause of @entity1164 . This has important implications for estimates of the amount of mortality worldwide attributable to specific risk factors and thus for national and international policy.

XXXX and cardiovascular mortality in Moscow; new evidence of a causal association.

@entity1164 :: ('MESH:D016757', 'Disease') :: ['sudden cardiac death'] @entity167 :: ('CHEBI:16236', 'Chemical') :: ['alcohol'] @entity4968 :: ('MESH:D011041', 'Disease') :: ['poisoning'] @entity299 :: ('MESH:D006331', 'Disease') :: ['heart disease'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death', 'deaths'] @entity65 :: ('MESH:D002318', 'Disease') :: ['cardiovascular death', 'cardiovascular disease', 'cardiovascular diseases']
@entity167 :: (CHEBI:16236,Chemical) :: ['Alcohol']
