Association of habitual alcohol consumption with long-term risk of type 2 diabetes among women with a history of gestational diabetes

Women with gestational diabetes are at high risk for type 2 diabetes. Identifying modifiable dietary and lifestyle factors, such as alcohol intake, that can be useful in delaying or preventing progression to overt type 2 diabetes is of particular interest.
A cohort study evaluated the association between alcohol consumption and risk for type 2 diabetes among women with a history of gestational diabetes.
Participants in the study were women from the Nurses’ Health Study II cohort who reported a history of gestational diabetes and were followed up from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 2017, as part of the Diabetes & Women’s Health Study.
A total of 4,740 women were included in the study; the mean (SD) age at baseline was 38.2 years, and the median follow-up time was 24 years resulting in 78,328 person-years of follow-up. During this period, 897 incident cases of type 2 diabetes were reported.
After adjustment for major dietary and lifestyle factors, compared with women who did not consume any alcohol, only alcohol consumption of 5.0 to 14.9 g/d was associated with decreased risk for incident type 2 diabetes (HR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.33-0.61); there was no association of alcohol consumption of 0.1 to 4.9 g/d or 15.0 g/d or more with risk of type 2 diabetes. After additional adjustment for body mass index, women who reported alcohol consumption of 5.0 to 14.9 g/d had a 41% lower risk for developing incident type 2 diabetes (HR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.42-0.81); consumption of 0.1 to 4.9 g/d and consumption of 15.0 g/d or more were still not associated with risk of type 2 diabetes.
In this study, among women with a history of gestational diabetes, usual alcohol intake of 5.0 to 14.9 g/d (approximately 0.5-1 drinks per day) was associated with a lower risk for type 2 diabetes. The authors comment that these findings should be interpreted in the context of other known risks and benefits of alcohol consumption when considering clinical recommendations for individual women with a history of gestational diabetes.
Source: Hinkle SN, Bao W, Wu J, et al. Association of Habitual Alcohol Consumption With Long-term Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Among Women With a History of Gestational Diabetes. JAMA Netw Open.