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 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.