Alcohol consumption, Type 2 diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in middle-aged Swedish men

Aims To investigate the association between alcohol consumption and impaire d glucose tolerance and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods A population-based cross-sectional study consisting of 3128 Swedish men, aged 35-56 years. Oral glucose tolerance testing identified 55 cases of Type 2 diabetes and 172 cases of impaired glucose tolerance. Information on alcohol consumption, family history of diabetes, smoking and physical a ctivity was obtained by questionnaire. Results After adjustment for family history, smoking, physical activity and body mass index, the odds ratio of diabetes was 2.1 (95% confidence interv al (CI) 1.0-4.5) in men with high consumption of alcohol (corresponding to over 12 drinks per week) and 0.7 (0.3-1.8) in moderate consumers (7-12 drin ks), compared to occasional drinkers. For impaired glucose tolerance, the c orresponding odds ratios were 0.7 (0.5-1.1) and 0.6 (0.4-1.0), respectively . Separate analyses for type of beverage indicated that high consumers of b eer, spirits and wine had an odds ratio for diabetes of 2.9 (1.2-6.9), 3.3 (1.4-7.8) and 1.2 (0.5-2.7), respectively. Conclusions The results indicated that high consumption of alcohol increase s the occurrence of Type 2 diabetes and that this may primarily concern con sumption of beer and spirits. For impaired glucose tolerance, regular alcoh ol consumption was associated with a reduced prevalence, particularly at mo derate levels.