Moderate alcohol consumption and risk of coronary heart disease among women with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background-Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with reduced risk for coronary heart disease (CI-ID) in generally healthy populations. We assess ed prospectively the association between moderate alcohol intake and CHD ri sk in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus, a group at high risk for cardiov ascular disease. Methods and Results-We studied women in the Nurses' Health Study who report ed a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus at greater than or equal to 30 years of age. During 39 092 person-years of follow-up from 1980 to 1994, there were 195 CHD events documented among this population, including 194 cases of no nfatal myocardial infarction and 101 cases of fatal CI-ID. Odds ratios deri ved from logistic regression were used to estimate relative risks (RRs) for CHD as a function of usual alcohol intake, with adjustment for potential c onfounders. Compared with diabetic women reporting no alcohol intake, the a ge-adjusted RR for nonfatal or fatal CHD among diabetic women reporting usu al intake of 0.1 to 4.9 g (<0.5 drinks) of alcohol daily was 0.74 (95% CI 0 .56 to 0.98), and among those reporting usual intake greater than or equal to 5 g/d, it was 0.48 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.72) (P for trend <0.0001), Inverse associations between alcohol intake and CHD risk remained significant in mu ltivariate analysis adjusting for several other coronary risk factors (0.1 to 4.9 g/d: RR 0.72 [95% CI 0.54 to 0.96]; greater than or equal to 5 g/d: RR 0.45 [0.29 to 0.68]). Conclusions-Although potential risks of alcohol consumption must be conside red, these data suggest that moderate alcohol consumption is associated wit h reduced CHD risk in women with diabetes and should not be routinely disco uraged.