Risk thresholds for alcohol consumption: combined analysis of individual-participant data for 599 912 current drinkers in 83 prospective studies
Authors: Angela M Wood, Stephen Kaptoge, Adam S Butterworth, Peter Willeit, Samantha Warnakula, Thomas Bolton, Ellie Paige, Dirk S Paul, Michael Sweeting, Stephen Burgess, Steven Bell, William Astle, David Stevens, Albert Koulman, Randi M Selmer, W M Monique Verschuren, Shinichi Sato, Inger Njølstad, Mark Woodward, Veikko Salomaa, Børge G Nordestgaard, Bu B Yeap, Astrid Fletcher, Olle Melander, Lewis H Kuller, Beverley Balkau, Michael Marmot, Wolfgang Koenig, Edoardo Casiglia, Cyrus Cooper, Volker Arndt, Oscar H Franco, Patrik Wennberg, John Gallacher, Agustín Gómez de la Cámara, Henry Völzke, Christina C Dahm, Caroline E Dale, Manuela M Bergmann, Carlos J Crespo, Yvonne T van der Schouw, Rudolf Kaaks, Leon A Simons, Pagona Lagiou, Josje D Schoufour, Jolanda M A Boer, Timothy J Key, Beatriz Rodriguez, Conchi Moreno-Iribas, Karina W Davidson, James O Taylor, Carlotta Sacerdote, Robert B Wallace, J Ramon Quiros, Rosario Tumino, Dan G Blazer, Allan Linneberg, Makoto Daimon, Salvatore Panico, Barbara Howard, Guri Skeie, Timo Strandberg, Elisabete Weiderpass, Paul J Nietert, Bruce M Psaty, Daan Kromhout, Elena Salamanca-Fernandez, Stefan Kiechl, Harlan M Krumholz, Sara Grioni, Domenico Palli, José M Huerta, Jackie Price, Johan Sundström, Larraitz Arriola, Hisatomi Arima, Ruth C Travis, Demosthenes B Panagiotakos, Anna Karakatsani, Antonia Trichopoulou, Tilman Kühn, Diederick E Grobbee, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, Natasja van Schoor, Heiner Boeing, Kim Overvad, Jussi Kauhanen, Nick Wareham, Claudia Langenberg, Nita Forouhi, Maria Wennberg, Jean-Pierre Després, Mary Cushman, Jackie A Cooper, Carlos J Rodriguez, Masaru Sakurai, Jonathan E Shaw, Matthew Knuiman, Trudy Voortman, Christa Meisinger, Anne Tjønneland, Hermann Brenner, Luigi Palmieri, Jean Dallongeville, Eric J Brunner, Gerd Assmann, Maurizio Trevisan, Richard F Gillum, Ian Ford, Naveed Sattar, Mariana Lazo, Simon G Thompson, Pietro Ferrari, David A Leon, George Davey Smith, Richard Peto, Rod Jackson, Emily Banks, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, John Danesh, Angela M Wood, Stephen Kaptoge, Adam Butterworth, Peter Willeit, Samantha Warnakula, Thomas Bolton, Ellie Paige, Dirk S Paul, Michael Sweeting, Stephen Burgess, Steven Bell, William Astle, David Stevens, Albert Koulman, Randi M Selmer, Monique Verschuren, Shinichi Sato, Inger Njølstad, Mark Woodward, Salomaa Veikko, Børge G Nordestgaard, Bu B Yeap, Astrid Flecther, Olle Melander, Lewis H Kuller, Beverley Balkau, Michael Marmot, Wolfgang Koenig, Edoardo Casiglia, Cyrus Cooper, Volker Arndt, Oscar H Franco, Patrik Wennberg, John Gallacher, Agustín Gómez de la Cámara, Henry Völzke, Christina C Dahm, Caroline E Dale, Manuela Bergmann, Carlos Crespo, Yvonne T van der Schouw, Rudolf Kaaks, Leon A Simons, Pagona Lagiou, Josje D Schoufour, Jolanda M.A Boer, Timothy J Key, Beatriz Rodriguez, Conchi Moreno-Iribas, Karina W Davidson, James O Taylor, Carlotta Sacerdote, Robert B Wallace, J. Ramon Quiros, Eric B Rimm, Rosario Tumino, Dan G Blazer III, Allan Linneberg, Makoto Daimon, Salvatore Panico, Barbara Howard, Guri Skeie, Veikko Salomaa, Timo Strandberg, Elisabete Weiderpass, Paul J Nietert, Bruce M Psaty, Daan Kromhout, Elena Salamanca-Fernandez, Stefan Kiechl, Harlan M Krumholz, Sara Grioni, Domenico Palli, José M Huerta, Jackie Price, Johan Sundström, Larraitz Arriola, Hisatomi Arima, Ruth C Travis, Demosthenes B Panagiotakos, Anna Karakatsani, Antonia Trichopoulou, Tilman Kühn, Diederick E Grobbee, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, Natasja van Schoor, Heiner Boeing, Kim Overvad, Jussi Kauhanen, Nick Wareham, Claudia Langenberg, Nita Forouhi, Maria Wennberg, Jean-Pierre Després, Mary Cushman, Jackie A Cooper, Carlos J Rodriguez, Masaru Sakurai, Jonathan E Shaw, Matthew Knuiman, Trudy Voortman, Christa Meisinger, Anne Tjønneland, Hermann Brenner, Luigi Palmieri, Jean-Pierre Dallongeville, Eric J Brunner, Gerd Assmann, Maurizio Trevisan, Richard F Gillumn, Ian Ford Ford, Naveed Sattar, Mariana Lazo, Simon Thompson, Pietro Ferrari, David A Leon, George Davey Smith, Richard Peto, Rod Jackson, Emily Banks, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, John Danesh
Journal: The Lancet (2018)

BackgroundLow-risk limits recommended for alcohol consumption vary substantially across different national guidelines. To define thresholds associated with lowest risk for all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease, we studied individual-participant data from 599 912 current drinkers without previous cardiovascular disease.MethodsWe did a combined analysis of individual-participant data from three large-scale data sources in 19 high-income countries (the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, EPIC-CVD, and the UK Biobank). We characterised dose–response associations and calculated hazard ratios (HRs) per 100 g per week of alcohol (12·5 units per week) across 83 prospective studies, adjusting at least for study or centre, age, sex, smoking, and diabetes. To be eligible for the analysis, participants had to have information recorded about their alcohol consumption amount and status (ie, non-drinker vs current drinker), plus age, sex, history of diabetes and smoking status, at least 1 year of follow-up after baseline, and no baseline history of cardiovascular disease. The main analyses focused on current drinkers, whose baseline alcohol consumption was categorised into eight predefined groups according to the amount in grams consumed per week. We assessed alcohol consumption in relation to all-cause mortality, total cardiovascular disease, and several cardiovascular disease subtypes. We corrected HRs for estimated long-term variability in alcohol consumption using 152 640 serial alcohol assessments obtained some years apart (median interval 5·6 years [5th–95th percentile 1·04–13·5]) from 71 011 participants from 37 studies.FindingsIn the 599 912 current drinkers included in the analysis, we recorded 40 310 deaths and 39 018 incident cardiovascular disease events during 5·4 million person-years of follow-up. For all-cause mortality, we recorded a positive and curvilinear association with the level of alcohol consumption, with the minimum mortality risk around or below 100 g per week. Alcohol consumption was roughly linearly associated with a higher risk of stroke (HR per 100 g per week higher consumption 1·14, 95% CI, 1·10–1·17), coronary disease excluding myocardial infarction (1·06, 1·00–1·11), heart failure (1·09, 1·03–1·15), fatal hypertensive disease (1·24, 1·15–1·33); and fatal aortic aneurysm (1·15, 1·03–1·28). By contrast, increased alcohol consumption was log-linearly associated with a lower risk of myocardial infarction (HR 0·94, 0·91–0·97). In comparison to those who reported drinking >0–≤100 g per week, those who reported drinking >100–≤200 g per week, >200–≤350 g per week, or >350 g per week had lower life expectancy at age 40 years of approximately 6 months, 1–2 years, or 4–5 years, respectively.InterpretationIn current drinkers of alcohol in high-income countries, the threshold for lowest risk of all-cause mortality was about 100 g/week. For cardiovascular disease subtypes other than myocardial infarction, there were no clear risk thresholds below which lower alcohol consumption stopped being associated with lower disease risk. These data support limits for alcohol consumption that are lower than those recommended in most current guidelines.FundingUK Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, National Institute for Health Research, European Union Framework 7, and European Research Council.