Alcohol consumption and risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective cohort study of men

Studies indicate an inverse association between moderate alcohol consumption and chronic inflammatory diseases; however, the association between alcohol consumption and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) incidence has not been widely studied.
Researchers investigated the associations of total alcoholconsumptionandintakeofspecificalcoholic beverages with risk of COPD in a population-based prospective cohort study, the Cohort of Swedish Men (n = 44,254). Alcohol consumption was assessed with a self-administered questionnaire in 1997. During follow-up (1998-2014), 2,177 COPD cases were identified.
Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with the lowest risk of COPD. A J-shaped association was observed for ethanol consumption (P for nonlinearity = 0.003) and beer consumption; for wine consumption, a U-shaped association was observed.
Defining a “standard drink” as 12 g of ethanol, compared to < 1.0 standard drinks/week (SDW) the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios were 0.77 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66, 0.90) and 0.92
(95% CI: 0.81, 1.05) for beer consumption of 4.1-6.0 and > 6.0 standard drinks/week, respectively; 0.80 (95% CI: 0.69, 0.93) and 1.00 (95% CI: 0.83, 1.21)
for wine consumption of 2.0-4.0 and > 4.0 SDW, respectively; and 1.10 (95% CI: 0.98, 1.24) and 1.20 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.44) for liquor consumption of 2.0- 4.0 and >4.0 SDW, respectively.
The researchers state that their findings suggest that moderate beer and wine consumption, but not liquor consumption, may decrease risk of COPD.
Source: Alcohol consumption and risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective cohort study of men. Kaluza J; Harris HR; Linden A; Wolk A. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2019 Mar 16. pii:
kwz020.