Original Scientific Paper Alcohol consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease among hypertensive women

Aim This study investigated the relation between alcohol consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among 10 530-hypertensive women from the EPIC-NL cohort. Methods and results Alcohol consumption was assessed using a validated food-frequency questionnaire and participants were followed for occurrence of CVD. During 9.4 years follow-up, we documented 580 coronary heart disease (CHD) events and 254 strokes, 165 of which were ischemic. An inverse association (Ptrend = 0.009) between alcohol consumption and risk of CHD was observed with a multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio of 0.72 (95 % confidence interval: 0.52–1.01) for those consuming 70–139.9 g alcohol/week compared to lifetime abstainers. Of different beverages, only red wine consumption was associated with a reduced risk of CHD. A U-shaped relation (P=0.08) was observed for total stroke with a hazard ratio of 0.65 (0.44–0.95) for consuming 5–69.9 g alcohol/week compared with lifetime abstainers. Similar results were observed for ischemic stroke with a hazard ratio of 0.56 (0.35–0.89) for consuming of 5–69.9 g alcohol/week. Conclusion We conclude that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk of CHD among hypertensive women. Light alcohol consumption tended to be related to a lower risk of stroke. Current guidelines for alcohol consumption in the general population also apply to hypertensive women. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabi