Alcohol raises heart disease risk, particularly among women

An alcoholic beverage. Image by Tim Sandle.

A major study finds that people who drink more than one alcoholic beverage per day can increase their risk of coronary heart disease. This risk is greater with women than men.

The research, presented by the American College of Cardiology, specifically found that young to middle-aged women who drink eight or more alcoholic beverages per week are significantly more likely to develop coronary heart disease compared with those who drank less.

The risk grows with those who engage in heavy episodic drinking, or ‘binge’ drinking. This may be the reason why heart attacks and other forms of heart disease are on the rise in younger populations in the U.S.

The researchers drew upon data from more than 430,000 people who received care in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California integrated health organization. The cohort was comprised of 243,000 men and 189,000 women. The participants on average were 44 years old and did not have heart disease at the start of the study.

Information on participants’ alcohol intake was collected during primary care visits using the health organization’s standard “Alcohol as a Vital Sign” screening initiative.

Researchers assessed the relationship between the level of alcohol intake participants reported in routine assessments from 2014-2015 and coronary heart disease diagnoses during the four-year period that followed.

Based on self-report assessments, the scientists categorized participants’ overall alcohol intake as:

• Low (defined as one to two drinks per week for both men and women).
• Moderate (three to 14 drinks per week for men and three to seven drinks per week for women).
• High (15 or more drinks per week for men and eight or more drinks per week for women).

The researchers separately categorized each participant as either engaging in binge drinking or not.

Overall, 3,108 study participants were diagnosed with coronary heart disease during the four-year follow-up period, and the incidence of coronary heart disease increased with higher levels of alcohol consumption.

Among women, those who reported high alcohol intake had a 45 percent higher risk of heart disease compared with those reporting low intake and had a 29 percent higher risk compared with those reporting moderate intake.

The difference was greatest among individuals in the binge drinking category; women in this category were 68 percent more likely to develop heart disease compared with women reporting moderate intake. Men with high overall intake were 33 percent more likely to develop heart disease compared with men who had moderate intake.