Heavy alcohol consumption and marital status: disentangling the relationship in a national study of young adults

Abstract Objective: Heavy alcohol consumption is associated with poorer cognitive function in older adults. Although understudied in middle-aged adults, the relationship between alcohol and cognition may also be influenced by genetics such as the apolipoprotein (ApoE) ε4 allele, a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. We examined the relationship between alcohol consumption, ApoE genotype, and cognition in middle-aged adults and hypothesized that light and/or moderate drinkers (≤2 drinks per day) would show better cognitive performance than heavy drinkers or non-drinkers. Additionally, we hypothesized that the association between alcohol use and cognitive function would differ by ApoE genotype (ε4+ vs. ε4−). Method: Participants were 1266 men from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA; M age = 56; range 51–60) who completed a neuropsychological battery assessing seven cognitive abilities: general cognitive ability (GCA), episodic memory, processing speed, executive function, abstract reasoning, verbal fluency, and visuospatial ability. Alcohol consumption was categorized into five groups: never, former, light, moderate, and heavy. Results: In fully adjusted models, there was no significant main effect of alcohol consumption on cognitive functions. However, there was a significant interaction between alcohol consumption and ApoE ε4 status for GCA and episodic memory, such that the relationship of alcohol consumption and cognition was stronger in ε4 carriers. The ε4+ heavy drinking subgroup had the poorest GCA and episodic memory. Conclusions: Presence of the ε4 allele may increase vulnerability to the deleterious effects of heavy alcohol consumption. Beneficial effects of light or moderate alcohol consumption were not observed.

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Coronary deaths during Midsummer festival in Finland: miseries of long, light nights

European Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1007/s10654-021-00744-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Simo Näyhä

Keyword(s):

Coronary Heart Disease ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Negative Binomial ◽

Negative Binomial Regression ◽

Adverse Consequence ◽

Heavy Alcohol ◽

Summer Peak ◽

Binomial Regression ◽

Heavy Alcohol Consumption

AbstractThis paper examines whether the anomalous summer peak in deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) in Finland could be attributed to adverse effects of the Midsummer festival and alcohol consumption during the festival. Daily deaths from CHD and alcohol poisoning in Finland, 1961–2014, that occurred during the 7 days centering on Midsummer Day were analysed in relation to deaths during 14 to 4 days before and 4 to 14 after Midsummer Day. Daily counts of deaths from CHD among persons aged 35–64 years were regressed on days around the Midsummer period by negative binomial regression. Mortality from CHD was highest on Midsummer Day (RR 1.25 (95% confidence interval 1.12–1.31), one day after the peak in deaths from alcohol poisonings. RR for CHD on Midsummer Day was particulary high (RR = 1.43; 1.09–1.86) in the 2000s, 30% of deaths being attributable to that day. In conclusion, the anomalous and prominent summer peak in deaths from CHD in Finland is an adverse consequence of the Midsummer festival. The most likely underlying reason is heavy alcohol consumption during the festival period, especially on Midsummer Eve. In the 2000s, one third of deaths from CHD on Midsummer Day are preventable.

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Current Heavy Alcohol Consumption is Associated with Greater Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults

Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research ◽

10.1111/acer.13211 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 (11) ◽

pp. 2435-2444 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Adam J. Woods ◽

Eric C. Porges ◽

Vaughn E. Bryant ◽

Talia Seider ◽

Assawin Gongvatana ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Heavy Alcohol ◽

Heavy Alcohol Consumption

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Abstract P002: Heavy Alcohol Consumption Increases the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation -Circulatory Risk in Communities Study(CIRCS)

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.127.suppl_12.ap002 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 127 (suppl_12) ◽

Author(s):

Fumihiko Sano ◽

Tetsuya Ohira ◽

Akihiko Kitamura ◽

Hironori Imano ◽

Renzhe Cui ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Medical History ◽

Moderate Alcohol Consumption ◽

Heavy Alcohol ◽

Ethanol Drinking ◽

Wide Range ◽

Detailed Medical History ◽

Heavy Alcohol Consumption

Background— Evidence on the relationship of a wide range of alcohol consumption with risk of incident atrial fibrillation has been limited. Methods— Between 1991 and 1995, 8602 Japanese men and women aged 30 to 80 years and free of clinical atrial fibrillation took part in the first examination of the Circulatory Risk in Communities Study(CIRCS)- a population based cohort study of cardiovascular risk factors, cardiovascular disease incidence, and their trends in Japanese communities. In the first examination, we checked a detailed medical history, physical examination, blood and urine examination, and electrocardiogram (ECG). An interviewer obtained histories in detail for weekly alcohol intake. In the follow-up period, incident atrial fibrillations were ascertained by annual ECG record and medical history of treatment of atrial fibrillation. ECGs were coded with the Minnesota Code by trained physician-epidemiologists. Differences in baseline characteristics between atrial fibrillation cases and controls were compared using Student t-tests or chi-squared tests. The hazard ratios (HRs) of incidence of atrial fibrillation and 95% confidence interval (CI) relative to the never-drinking group were calculated with adjustment for age and other potential confounding factors using the Cox proportional hazard model. Results— During an average follow-up of 6.4 years, 290 incident atrial fibrillation occurred. The higher incidence rate of atrial fibrillation was observed among participants with more than 69 g of ethanol drinking per week, compared with less than 69 g of ethanol drinking per week. On the other hand, light to moderate alcohol consumption was not associated with risk of atrial fibrillation. Compared with the never drinking group, the multivariable-adjusted HRs of past, light (<23 g), light moderate (23-46 g), moderate (46-69 g), and heavy (>69 g) drinking groups were 1.20 (95% CI, 0.61-2.35), 0.85 (95% CI, 0.57-1.27), 1.05 (95% CI, 0.63-1.75), 1.34 (95% CI, 0.78-2.32), and 2.92 (95% CI, 1.61-5.28), respectively. Conclusions— Heavy alcohol consumption was associated with the higher risk of atrial fibrillation, whereas there was no association of less than moderate alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation.

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Protection of Gastrointestinal Mucosa from Acute Heavy Alcohol Consumption: The Effect of Berberine and Its Correlation with TLR2, 4/IL1β-TNFα Signaling

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0134044 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. e0134044 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Xin-Pei Wang ◽

Fan Lei ◽

Feng Du ◽

Yu-Shuang Chai ◽

Jing-Fei Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Gastrointestinal Mucosa ◽

Heavy Alcohol ◽

Heavy Alcohol Consumption

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Heavy alcohol consumption in children and adolescents: characteristics and gender differences

European Journal of Pediatrics ◽

10.1007/s00431-011-1448-z ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 170 (7) ◽

pp. 951-952

Author(s):

Sascha Meyer ◽

Sven Gottschling ◽

Ludwig Gortner

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Heavy Alcohol ◽

Heavy Alcohol Consumption ◽

And Gender

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THE INFLUENCE OF HEAVY ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION ON HIV INFECTION AND PROGRESSION

Journal of Biological System ◽

10.1142/s0218339009003083 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 17 (04) ◽

pp. 685-712 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

G. THOMAS ◽

E. M. LUNGU

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Demographic Data ◽

African Region ◽

Heavy Alcohol ◽

Infected People ◽

Aids Epidemic ◽

Heavy Alcohol Consumption ◽

The Impact ◽

Global Population ◽

Hiv Aids

The Sub-Sahara African region is inhabited by only 11% of the global population, but is home to 67% of the total HIV infected people and accounts for more than 70% of global AIDS deaths. In this study, we construct a mathematical model to investigate the effect of heavy alcohol consumption on the transmission and progression of HIV/AIDS, and to assess the impact of heavy drinkers on HIV/AIDS related social and health problems such as TB case load and number of orphans. Using demographic data for Botswana, we have shown that if more HIV/AIDS individuals had been de-addicted from heavy alcohol consumption, the severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the impact of HIV/AIDS on the number of TB cases and orphans would have been significantly less than is the case currently. The study points to the vital need for counseling and education about the evils of heavy alcohol consumption and for alcohol de-addiction programmes.

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