Alcohol consumption and risk of coronary heart disease among men with type 2 diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between alcohol intake and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) among men with type 2 diabetes. BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of CHD. Emerging evidence suggests that moderate alcohol intake is associated with an important reduction in risk of CHD in individuals with type 2 diabetes. METHODS We studied 2,419 men who reported a diagnosis of diabetes at age 30 or older in the Health Professionals’ Follow-up study (HPFS). During 11,411 person-years of follow-up after diagnosis, we documented 150 new cases of CHD (81 nonfatal myocardial infarction [MI] and 69 fatal CHD). Relative risks (RR) were estimated from pooled logistic regression adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS Alcohol use was inversely associated with risk of CHD in men with type 2 diabetes. The age-adjusted RRs corresponding to intakes of ≤0.5 drinks/day, 0.5 to 2 drinks/day and >2 drinks/day were 0.76 (95% confidence interval: [CI]: 0.52 to 1.12), 0.64 (95% CI: 0.40 to 1.02) and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.32 to 1.09), respectively, as compared with nondrinkers (p for TREND = 0.06). When we controlled for body mass index, smoking, family history of MI, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, duration of diabetes, physical activity level, vitamin E supplements and intake of trans fat, polyunsaturated fat, fiber and folate, RRs were 0.78 (95% CI: 0.52 to 1.15), 0.62 (95% CI: 0.40 to 1.00) and 0.48 (95% CI: 0.25 to 0.94) (p for TREND = 0.03). The benefits of moderate consumption did not statistically differ by beverage type. CONCLUSIONS Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower risk of CHD in men with type 2 diabetes.