Moderate beer and wine consumption protects against COPD

Sweden: People who drink wine and beer in moderation are at lower risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) the association, however, was not seen for people who consume liquor.

Results of the study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology confirm that moderate beer or wine consumption provides protection against the risk of COPD.

COPD is an inflammatory disease of the small airways in the lungs. The disease accounts for 10.9% of the total deaths in India in 2016 and is the second leading cause of death in the country. The disease usually develops because of exposure to noxious particles or gases which cause airway and/or alveolar abnormalities, with cigarette smoking being the main risk factor.

Previous studies have indicated that drinking moderate alcohol lowers risk of chronic inflammatory diseases, however, the association between COPD and alcohol consumption has not been widely studied. Joanna Kaluza, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues investigated the associations of total alcohol consumption and intake of specific alcoholic beverages with the 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 ascertained.

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Key findings of the study include:

• Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with the lowest risk of COPD.


• A J-shaped association was observed for ethanol consumption and beer consumption; for wine consumption, a U-shaped association was observed.


• Defining a “standard drink” as 12 g of ethanol, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios were 0.77 and 0.92 for beer consumption of 4.1–6.0 and >6.0 standard drinks/week (SDW) versus <1.0 SDW, respectively; 0.80 and 1.00 for wine consumption of 2.0–4.0 and >4.0 SDW versus <1.0 SDW, respectively; and 1.10 and 1.20 for liquor consumption of 2.0–4.0 and >4.0 SDW versus <1.0 SDW, respectively.

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"Our findings suggest that moderate beer and wine consumption, but not liquor consumption, may decrease the risk of COPD. Additional studies are needed to confirm these associations," concluded the authors.

For a detailed study follow the link: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwz020