Alcohol consumption and risk for stroke among Chinese men
Annals of Neurology Early View Published on-line 20 August 2007

Stroke is a leading cause of death and long-term disability in China. The objective of this study was to examine the relation between alcohol consumption and risk for stroke among Chinese men. Over the course of 493,351 person-years of follow-up, we documented 3,434 incident strokes (1,848 stroke deaths). After adjustment for age, body mass index, physical activity, urbanization (urban vs rural), geographic variation (north vs south), cigarette smoking, history of diabetes, and education, compared with nondrinkers, relative risk (95% confidence interval) of incident stroke was 0.92 for participants consuming 1 to 6 drinks/week, 1.02 for those consuming 7 to 20 drinks/week, 1.22 for those consuming 21 to 34 drinks/week, and 1.22 for those consuming 35 or more drinks per week. The corresponding relative risks for stroke mortality were 0.93, 0.98, 1.15, and 1.30, respectively. These results suggest that heavy alcohol drinking may increase the risk for stroke in Chinese men and should be the target of strategies for prevention. Read Full Abstract Reprint Request E-Mail: lbazzano@tulane.edu ______________________________________________________________________