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Coronary Artery Disease

Alcohol Consumption Is Not Associated With CAD

Light to moderate weekly alcohol consumption is not associated with coronary artery disease (CAD), according to a new study.1

For the study, researchers assessed the coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) scans of 1925 patients suspected of CAD. After their initial CCTA, patients were categorized into CAD or no CAD groups.
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Patients also completed questionnaires about their alcohol consumption and type of alcohol consumed. One unit of alcohol was defined as 2 dl of beer, 1 dl of wine, or 4 cl of hard liquor.

About 40% of patients consumed alcohol regularly, with a weekly average of 6.7 alcohol units consumed.

After comparing the CAD group with the no CAD group, the researchers found that light or moderate weekly alcohol consumption was not associated with CAD.

Secondary analysis found no associations between different types of alcohol and coronary atherosclerosis.

“Our study suggests that the amount of weekly alcohol consumption does not show association with the presence of CAD,” the authors write. “We did not detect any association between alcohol intake and CAD among light drinkers either. In addition, we did not find any association between the different alcohol types and the presence of coronary atherosclerosis.”2

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

  1. Karady J, Szilveszter B, Drobni ZD, et al. Association between alcohol consumption and presence of coronary artery disease. Paper presented at: Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting 2016; November 29, 2016; Chicago, IL. https://rsna2016.rsna.org/program/index.cfm. Accessed November 30, 2016.
  2. Alcohol consumption shows no effect on coronary arteries [news release]. Chicago, IL; Radiological Society of North America (RSNA); November 29, 2016. http://www.rsna.org/news.aspx?id=20866. Accessed November 30, 2016.