THE ASSOCIATION OF CIGARETTE-SMOKING AND ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION WITH OTHER CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS IN MEN FROM SEOUL, KOREA

PURPOSE: To explore the effects of cigarette smoking and alcohol consu mption on cardiovascular disease risk factors such as hypertension, dy slipidemia, and glucose intolerance in Korean men. METHODS: In this cr oss-sectional study, we gathered the smoking and drinking history by s elf-administered questionnaire between June 1994 and May 1995 among 10 53 men, age 20-77, who visited a prevention center for a multiphasic h ealth check at St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul. RESULTS: Cigarette smoking had a significant inverse association with systolic and diastolic bloo d pressure. Adjusted for age, body mass index (BMI), and alcohol consu mption, the odds ratio of hypercholesterolemia (greater than or equal to 240 mg/dl) was 1.30 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-1.55), lower high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (< 40 mg/dl) was 1.29 (95% CI 1.08-1.54), higher low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (grea ter than or equal to 160 mg/dl) was 1.30 (95% CI 1.07-1.56), and hyper triglyceridemia (greater than or equal to 200 mg/dl) was 1.40 (95% CI 1.16-1.68) among men who smoked 21-30 cigarettes per day compared with nonsmokers. Adjusted for age, BMI, and cigarette smoking in men who c onsumed 90-179 and 180-269 g/week of alcohol compared with nondrinkers , the odds ratio of hypertension was 1.73 (95% CI 1.01-3.00) and 1.48 (95% CI 1.01-2.17), respectively. Alcohol consumption had a significan t protective effect (adjusted odds ratio: 0.60-0.78) against lower HDL cholesterol in all categories greater than or equal to 90 g of alcoho l per week compared with nondrinkers. The adjusted odds ratio of hyper triglyceridemia was 1.17 (95% CI 1.04-1.31), and glucose intolerance ( fasting blood sugar (FBS) greater than or equal to 120 mg/dl) was 1.27 (95% CI 1.11-1.14) among those who consumed greater than or equal to 360 g/week of alcohol compared with nondrinkers. CONCLUSIONS: In this Korean population study, although alcohol consumption increased HDL ch olesterol, which might have a protective effect on coronary heart dise ase, cigarette smoking was associated with decreased blood pressure, s moking was confirmed to have dyslipidemic effect such as increasing to tal cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride and decreasing HDL chol esterol, and alcohol consumption was confirmed to be associated with h ypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and glucose intolerance as in Cauca sian. Further prospective intervention studies are needed for evaluati ng cardiovascular effects after cessation of smoking and drinking. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.