Women who drink wine daily at higher risk of heart disease: study

By James Gamble via SWNS

As little as a daily glass of wine and two at weekends are at "significantly higher" risk of developing heart disease for women, warns a new study.

American researchers discovered that ladies who down more than eight alcoholic drinks a week were nearly 50 percent more likely to develop the potentially fatal condition.

Binge drinkers of both genders were also found to be at a far higher risk of heart disease - especially women.

The new study from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) - one of the largest on the link between alcohol and coronary heart disease ever conducted - warned that heavy-drinking young and middle-aged women were especially at risk regardless of their age.

Heart attacks and other forms of heart disease are currently on the rise among younger generations in both the US and the UK.

Coronary heart disease occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the heart become narrowed, limiting blood flow.

This condition can cause chest pain and acute events such as heart attacks.

Alcohol use and episodic drinking - or binge drinking - have also risen amongst female populations in recent decades.

“When it comes to binge drinking, both men and women with excess alcohol consumption had a higher risk of heart disease,” Dr Jamal Rana, a cardiologist and lead author of the study, explained.

"For women, we find consistently higher risk even without binge drinking.

"I wasn’t expecting these results among women in this lower age group because we usually see increased risk for heart disease among older women.

"It was definitely surprising.”

The researchers used data from more than 430,000 people who received care in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California integrated health organization.

The participants included nearly 243,000 men and 189,000 women with an average age of 44, and none had heart disease at the beginning of the study.

Information on their alcohol intake was collected during primary care visits using the health organization’s standard 'Alcohol as a Vital Sign' screening initiative, which includes visual reference posters to help patients estimate alcohol quantity intakes according to standard measurements.

The researchers analyzed the relationship between patients' alcohol intake levels, reported during routine assessments in 2014 and 2015, and coronary heart disease diagnoses during the following four years.

Based on self-report assessments, researchers categorized participants’ overall alcohol intake as low (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), or high (15 or more drinks per week for men and eight or more drinks per week for women).

They separately categorized each participant as to whether they engaged in binge drinking - defined as having more than four drinks for men or more than three drinks for women in a single day in the past three months - or not.

Those who reported no alcohol use were not included in the study, and the researchers adjusted the data to account for age, physical activity, smoking and other known cardiovascular risk factors.

A total of 3,108 patients were diagnosed with coronary heart disease during the four-year follow-up period, and the researchers found that 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 a 29 percent higher risk compared with those reporting moderate intake.

However, the greatest difference was among individuals in the binge drinking category - with women in this category being a shocking two-thirds more likely (68 percent) to develop heart disease compared to those with a moderate alcohol intake.

Men with high overall intake were also a third (33 percent) more likely to develop heart disease compared with men who reported a moderate intake.

The results showed no significant difference in risk between people who reported moderate versus low alcohol intake, regardless of whether they were also categorized as binge drinkers.

“Women feel they’re protected against heart disease until they’re older, but this study shows that even when you’re young or middle-aged, if you are a heavy alcohol user or binge drink, you are at risk for coronary heart disease,” Dr. Rana said.

Alcohol has been shown to raise blood pressure and lead to metabolic changes associated with inflammation and obesity, with women also processing alcohol differently to men.

Dr. Rana and his team warned that their study highlights the health risks of alcohol consumption and the importance of considering alcohol use in heart disease risk assessment and prevention efforts.

“When it comes to heart disease, the number one thing that comes to mind is smoking, and we do not think about alcohol as one of the vital signs,” Dr. Rana added.

“I think a lot more awareness is needed, and alcohol should be part of routine health assessments moving forward.”

One limitation of the study - which Dr. Rana will present at the ACC's Annual Scientific Session in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 6 - was that patients are widely believed to under-report their alcohol intakes.

As a result, the researchers say their study's estimates of heart disease risk associated with alcohol consumption are likely "conservative."