Skip to main content

Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Disease in Aging Populations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Alcohol and Aging

Abstract

Alcohol consumption is common in both young and older populations. In the United States, 65 % of the adult population reports current alcohol consumption and about 5 % report heavy drinking. While moderate alcohol drinking has been associated with cardiovascular benefits in both younger and older populations, heavy alcohol use is associated with adverse metabolic and cardiovascular effects. In this chapter, we summarize known effects of alcohol consumption on the cardiovascular system overall and among elderly populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. CDC. Number of deaths for leading causes of death. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2015;http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm.

  2. Mozaffarian D, Benjamin EJ, Go AS, Arnett DK, Blaha MJ, Cushman M, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2015 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2015;131(4):e29–322. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000152.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. WHO. Health statistics and information systems. Projections of mortality and causes of death, 2015 and 2030. http://wwwwhoint/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/projections/en/. 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  4. GBD 2013 Mortality and Causes of Death Collaborators. Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet. 2015;385(9963):117–71. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61682-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet. 2015;386(9995):743–800. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60692-4.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Kabagambe E, Fazio S. Is it time to enhance assessment of alcohol intake in patients slated for statin therapy? Curr Nutr Rep. 2015;4(1):1–5. doi:10.1007/s13668-014-0107-1.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Breslow RA, Dong C, White A. Prevalence of alcohol-interactive prescription medication use among current drinkers: United States, 1999 to 2010. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2015;39(2):371–9. doi:10.1111/acer.12633.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. World Health Organization. Global status report on alcohol and health. 2014. http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/msb_gsr_2014_1.pdf?ua=1:xiii.

  9. Schoenborn CA, Adams PF, Peregoy JA. Health behaviors of adults: United States, 2008–2010. Vital Health Stat 10. 2013;257:1–184.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). . Table 241B—Alcohol use in lifetime, past year, and past month among persons aged 18 or older, by demographic characteristics: percentages, 2012 and 2013. 2013. http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-DetTabsPDFWHTML2013/Web/HTML/NSDUH-DetTabsSect2peTabs1to42-2013.htm#tab2.41b.

  11. SAMHSA. National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Table 246B—Alcohol use, binge alcohol use, and heavy alcohol use in the past month among persons aged 18 or older, by demographic characteristics: percentages, 2012 and 2013. 2013; http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-DetTabsPDFWHTML2013/Web/HTML/NSDUH-DetTabsSect2peTabs43to84-2013.htm#tab2.46b.

  12. CDC. Excessive alcohol consumption in the US. 2000; http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/measure09.pdf.

  13. Mostofsky E, Burger MR, Schlaug G, Mukamal KJ, Rosamond WD, Mittleman MA. Alcohol and acute ischemic stroke onset: the stroke onset study. Stroke. 2010;41(9):1845–9. doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.580092.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. CDC. Deaths, percent of total deaths, and death rates for the 15 leading causes of death: United States and each State, 2013. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/lcwk9.htm.

  15. Gillespie CD, Wigington C, Hong Y. Coronary heart disease and stroke deaths—United States, 2009. MMWR Suppl. 2013;62 Suppl 3:157–60.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hansel B, Kontush A, Bruckert E. Is a cardioprotective action of alcohol a myth? Curr Opin Cardiol. 2012;27(5):550–5. doi:10.1097/HCO.0b013e328356dc30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Judd SE, McClure LA, Howard VJ, Lackland DT, Halanych JH, Kabagambe EK. Heavy drinking is associated with poor blood pressure control in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2011;8(5):1601–12. doi:10.3390/ijerph8051601ijerph-08-01601 [pii].

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Kabagambe EK, Baylin A, Ruiz-Narvarez E, Rimm EB, Campos H. Alcohol intake, drinking patterns and risk of nonfatal acute myocardial infarction in Costa Rica. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;82(2):1336–45.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Rimm E. Alcohol and cardiovascular disease. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2000;2(6):529–35.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Mukamal KJ, Cushman M, Mittleman MA, Tracy RP, Siscovick DS. Alcohol consumption and inflammatory markers in older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study. Atherosclerosis. 2004;173(1):79–87.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. O'Keefe JH, Bybee KA, Lavie CJ. Alcohol and cardiovascular health: the razor-sharp double-edged sword. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2007;50(11):1009–14. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2007.04.089.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Zaridze D, Lewington S, Boroda A, Scelo G, Karpov R, Lazarev A, et al. Alcohol and mortality in Russia: prospective observational study of 151,000 adults. Lancet. 2014;383(9927):1465–73. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62247-3S0140-6736(13)62247-3 [pii].

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Yang L, Zhou M, Sherliker P, Cai Y, Peto R, Wang L, et al. Alcohol drinking and overall and cause-specific mortality in China: nationally representative prospective study of 220,000 men with 15 years of follow-up. Int J Epidemiol. 2012;41(4):1101–13. doi:10.1093/ije/dys075.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Jackson CL, Hu FB, Kawachi I, Williams DR, Mukamal KJ, Rimm EB. Black-White differences in the relationship between alcohol drinking patterns and mortality among US men and women. Am J Public Health. 2015;105 Suppl 3:S534–43. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302615.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Mukamal KJ, Lumley T, Luepker RV, Lapin P, Mittleman MA, McBean AM, et al. Alcohol consumption in older adults and Medicare costs. Health Care Financ Rev. 2006;27(3):49–61.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Di Castelnuovo A, Costanzo S, Bagnardi V, Donati MB, Iacoviello L, de Gaetano G. Alcohol dosing and total mortality in men and women: an updated meta-analysis of 34 prospective studies. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(22):2437–45. doi:10.1001/archinte.166.22.2437. 166/22/2437 [pii].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Roerecke M, Rehm J. The cardioprotective association of average alcohol consumption and ischaemic heart disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction. 2012;107(7):1246–60. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03780.x.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Hvidtfeldt UA, Tolstrup JS, Jakobsen MU, Heitmann BL, Gronbaek M, O'Reilly E, et al. Alcohol intake and risk of coronary heart disease in younger, middle-aged, and older adults. Circulation. 2010;121(14):1589–97. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.887513.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Bobak M, Malyutina S, Horvat P, Pajak A, Tamosiunas A, Kubinova R, et al. Alcohol, drinking pattern and all-cause, cardiovascular and alcohol-related mortality in Eastern Europe. Eur J Epidemiol. 2015;31(1):21–30. doi:10.1007/s10654-015-0092-8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Gruer L, Hart CL, Watt GC. After 50 years and 200 papers, what can the Midspan cohort studies tell us about our mortality? Public Health. 2015. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2015.06.017.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Hines LM, Stampfer MJ, Ma J, Gaziano JM, Ridker PM, Hankinson SE, et al. Genetic variation in alcohol dehydrogenase and the beneficial effect of moderate alcohol consumption on myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med. 2001;344(8):549–55.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Mukamal KJ, Ascherio A, Mittleman MA, Conigrave KM, Camargo Jr CA, Kawachi I, et al. Alcohol and risk for ischemic stroke in men: the role of drinking patterns and usual beverage. Ann Intern Med. 2005;142(1):11–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Roerecke M, Rehm J. Alcohol consumption, drinking patterns, and ischemic heart disease: a narrative review of meta-analyses and a systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of heavy drinking occasions on risk for moderate drinkers. BMC Med. 2014;12:182. doi:10.1186/s12916-014-0182-6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Mukamal KJ, Conigrave KM, Mittleman MA, Camargo Jr CA, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, et al. Roles of drinking pattern and type of alcohol consumed in coronary heart disease in men. N Engl J Med. 2003;348(2):109–18.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Meyer KA, Conigrave KM, Chu NF, Rifai N, Spiegelman D, Stampfer MJ, et al. Alcohol consumption patterns and HbA1c, C-peptide and insulin concentrations in men. J Am Coll Nutr. 2003;22(3):185–94.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Rimm EB, Moats C. Alcohol and coronary heart disease: drinking patterns and mediators of effect. Ann Epidemiol. 2007;17(5):S3–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Dorn JM, Hovey K, Williams BA, Freudenheim JL, Russell M, Nochajski TH, et al. Alcohol drinking pattern and non-fatal myocardial infarction in women. Addiction. 2007;102(5):730–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Conigrave KM, Hu BF, Camargo Jr CA, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Rimm EB. A prospective study of drinking patterns in relation to risk of type 2 diabetes among men. Diabetes. 2001;50(10):2390–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Kroenke CH, Chu NF, Rifai N, Spiegelman D, Hankinson SE, Manson JE, et al. A cross-sectional study of alcohol consumption patterns and biologic markers of glycemic control among 459 women. Diabetes Care. 2003;26(7):1971–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Drogan D, Sheldrick AJ, Schutze M, Knuppel S, Andersohn F, di Giuseppe R, et al. Alcohol consumption, genetic variants in alcohol deydrogenases, and risk of cardiovascular diseases: a prospective study and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2012;7(2), e32176. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032176.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  41. Djousse L, Levy D, Herbert AG, Wilson PW, D'Agostino RB, Cupples LA, et al. Influence of alcohol dehydrogenase 1C polymorphism on the alcohol-cardiovascular disease association (from the Framingham Offspring Study). Am J Cardiol. 2005;96(2):227–32. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2005.03.050.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Kiage JN, James LO, Kabagambe EK. Genetic modification of the effects of alcohol on metabolic and clinical phenotypes: A review. Curr Nutr Rep. 2014;3:213–22. doi:10.1007/s13668-014-0086-2.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Mukamal KJ, Rimm EB. Alcohol's effects on the risk for coronary heart disease. Alcohol Res Health. 2001;25(4):255–61.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Schroder H, Ferrandez O, Jimenez Conde J, Sanchez-Font A, Marrugat J. Cardiovascular risk profile and type of alcohol beverage consumption: a population-based study. Ann Nutr Metab. 2005;49(2):100–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Beulens JWJ, Sierksma A, van Tol A, Fournier N, van Gent T, Paul J-L, et al. Moderate alcohol consumption increases cholesterol efflux mediated by ABCA1. J Lipid Res. 2004;45(9):1716–23. doi:10.1194/jlr.M400109-JLR200.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Rohatgi A, Khera A, Berry JD, Givens EG, Ayers CR, Wedin KE, et al. HDL cholesterol efflux capacity and incident cardiovascular events. N Engl J Med. 2014;371(25):2383–93. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1409065.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Davies MJ, Baer DJ, Judd JT, Brown ED, Campbell WS, Taylor PR. Effects of moderate alcohol intake on fasting insulin and glucose concentrations and insulin sensitivity in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2002;287(19):2559–62.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Albert MA, Glynn RJ, Ridker PM. Alcohol consumption and plasma concentration of C-reactive protein. Circulation. 2003;107(3):443–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Renaud SC, Ruf JC. Effects of alcohol on platelet functions. Clin Chim Acta. 1996;246(1-2):77–89.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Ruf JC. Alcohol, wine and platelet function. Biol Res. 2004;37(2):209–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Mukamal KJ, Jadhav PP, D'Agostino RB, Massaro JM, Mittleman MA, Lipinska I, et al. Alcohol consumption and hemostatic factors: analysis of the Framingham Offspring cohort. Circulation. 2001;104(12):1367–73.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Duane P, Raja KB, Simpson RJ, Peters TJ. Intestinal iron absorption in chronic alcoholics. Alcohol Alcohol. 1992;27(5):539–44.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Kohgo Y, Ikuta K, Ohtake T, Torimoto Y, Kato J. Iron overload and cofactors with special reference to alcohol, hepatitis C virus infection and steatosis/insulin resistance. World J Gastroenterol. 2007;13(35):4699–706.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  54. Lee K. Sex-specific relationships between alcohol consumption and vitamin D levels: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009. Nutr Res Pract. 2012;6(1):86–90. doi:10.4162/nrp.2012.6.1.86.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  55. Elisaf M, Bairaktari E, Kalaitzidis R, Siamopoulos KC. Hypomagnesemia in alcoholic patients. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1998;22(1):134.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Halsted CH, Villanueva JA, Devlin AM, Chandler CJ. Metabolic interactions of alcohol and folate. J Nutr. 2002;132(8 Suppl):2367S–72.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Alcohol and nutrition. Alcohol Alert. 1993; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. No. 22 PH 346. http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa22.htm.

  58. Deng X, Song Y, Manson JE, Signorello LB, Zhang SM, Shrubsole MJ, et al. Magnesium, vitamin D status and mortality: results from US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001 to 2006 and NHANES III. BMC Med. 2013;11:187. doi:10.1186/1741-7015-11-187.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  59. Stone NJ, Robinson JG, Lichtenstein AH, Bairey Merz CN, Blum CB, Eckel RH, et al. 2013 ACC/AHA guideline on the treatment of blood cholesterol to reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2014;129(25 suppl 2):S1–45. doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000437738.63853.7a.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Dufour M, Fuller RK. Alcohol in the elderly. Annu Rev Med. 1995;46:123–32. doi:10.1146/annurev.med.46.1.123.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. NIAAA. Alcohol and aging alcohol alert. 1998; 40. http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa40.htm.

  62. Chokshi NP, Messerli FH, Sutin D, Supariwala AA, Shah NR. Appropriateness of statins in patients aged >/=80 years and comparison to other age groups. Am J Cardiol. 2012;110(10):1477–81. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2012.06.058S0002-9149(12)01719-5 [pii].

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Itakura H, Nakaya N, Kusunoki T, Shimizu N, Hirai S, Mochizuki S, et al. Long-term event monitoring study of fluvastatin in Japanese patients with hypercholesterolemia: Efficacy and incidence of cardiac and other events in elderly patients (>/= 65 years old). J Cardiol. 2011;57(1):77–88. doi:10.1016/j.jjcc.2010.09.003S0914-5087(10)00179-6 [pii].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Nozue T, Yamamoto S, Tohyama S, Fukui K, Umezawa S, Onishi Y, et al. Impacts of age on coronary atherosclerosis and vascular response to statin therapy. Heart Vessels. 2013. doi:10.1007/s00380-013-0387-1.

    Google Scholar 

  65. Abbott RD, Curb JD, Rodriguez BL, Masaki KH, Yano K, Schatz IJ, et al. Age-related changes in risk factor effects on the incidence of coronary heart disease. Ann Epidemiol. 2002;12(3):173–81. doi:S104727970100309X [pii].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Mukamal KJ, Chung H, Jenny NS, Kuller LH, Longstreth Jr WT, Mittleman MA, et al. Alcohol consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2006;54(1):30–7. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.00561.x. JGS561 [pii].

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. McKnight-Eily LR, Liu Y, Brewer RD, Kanny D, Lu H, Denny CH, et al. Vital signs: communication between health professionals and their patients about alcohol use—44 States and the District of Columbia, 2011. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014;63(1):16–22.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the support from the American Heart Association to EKK that supported literature reviews as part of an earlier project (NSDG # 0635323N).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edmond K. Kabagambe D.V.M., M.S., Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kabagambe, E.K., Mukamal, K.J. (2016). Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Disease in Aging Populations. In: Kuerbis, A., Moore, A., Sacco, P., Zanjani, F. (eds) Alcohol and Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47233-1_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47233-1_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47231-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47233-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics