Alcohol consumption and risk for increased aortic pulse wave velocity in middle-aged Japanese men

A 9-year longitudinal study was performed to prospectively examine the asso ciation of alcohol consumption with development of increased aortic pulse w ave velocity (PWV) in 1,358 Japanese men aged 35 to 59 years with a PWV les s than 8.0 m/sec and without antihypertensive medication. Three hundred fif ty-nine men developed increased aortic PWV of 8.0 m/sec or more during 10,5 98 person-years follow-up. After controlling for potential predictors of ao rtic PWV, the relative risk for increased aortic PWV compared with that in nondrinkers was 1.05 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70 to 1.58) for those who drank 0.1 to 22.9 g/day of ethanol, 1.58 (95% CI, 0.89 to 1.91) for th ose who drank 23.0 to 45.9 g/day of ethanol, 1.77 (95% CI, 1.24 to 2.53) fo r those who drank 46.0 to 68.9 g/day of ethanol, and 1.81 (95% Cl, 1.23 to 2.66) for those who drank 69.0 or more g/day of ethanol (p for trend < 0.00 1). The relative risk for increased aortic PWV in current drinkers vs nondr inkers was stronger among men with a body mass index (BMI) less than 24.2 k g/m(2) and nonsmokers than among men with a BMI 24.2 kg/m(2) or more and cu rrent smokers, respectively. These results suggest that alcohol consumption is closely associated with risk for increased aortic PWV in middle-aged Ja panese men.