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Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Smoking, Hypertension, Alcohol Consumption, and Risk of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Men

American Journal of Epidemiology 2007 165(7):838-845;



Despite the known protective association between moderate alcohol consumption and ischemic heart disease, little is known about the effects of alcohol consumption on abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA).

After adjustment for other risk factors for AAA, including smoking, hypertension, and body mass index, alcohol consumption at baseline was independently associated with AAA diagnosis (p for trend = 0.03), with a maximum hazard ratio of 1.21 (95% confidence interval: 0.78, 1.87) for ≥30.0 g (approximately ≥2 standard drinks) of daily alcohol consumption.

This association was stronger when the updated alcohol consumption data were assessed rather than simply baseline exposure (p for trend = 0.02); the hazard ratio for the highest level of intake (≥30.0 g/day) was 1.65 (95% confidence interval: 1.03, 2.64).

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