Alcohol, Resveratrol and Health Flashcards
Alcohol - meta analysis on 1 million subjects (34 prospective observational studies)
- relation
- conclusion
Moderate alcohol consumption and reduced risk of “all cause mortality”
- J-shaped curve
- postive effect <4 drinks per day for men
- above had negative effect
Copenhagen city heart study design
What types of alcohol is better - CVD
- prospective cohort
- 13000 men
- 12 year follow up
- control for confounding variables
Copenhagen city heart study results
Wine and beer intake was associated with decrease CVD mortality
- wine better
observational study
- wine vs beer on total mortality and CVD
- France
Observational study (n=36500)
Total mortality
- wine beneficial, beer no effect on mortality
CVD
- beer and wine lowered CVD mortality
observational prospective study
- different types of alcohol on CVD and total mortality
- USA
Observational prospective study (130000)
Wine drinking associated with lower mortality (mostly attributed to CVD risk reduction)
- All types of wine, and combinations of wine shared similar risk reduction (even without resveratrol)
- other types of alcohol not as effecttive
Why is unclear - nonalcoholic ingredients, drinking patterns, associated traits
Intervention study: Wine vs Gin
Cross over study
- 28 days each, 30g ethanol
- wine contains polyphenols
Both showed anti-inflamatory effects
Wine also showed
- decreased oxidation of LDL cholesterol in plasma
- decrease more markers of inflammation (CRP)
Conclusions of alcohol studies
wine
- lower total mortality and CVD multiple populations (J-shaped association)
- other additions
beer
- CVD risk reduction only
alcohol
- no benefit
Confounding variables with observational alcohol studies
often under reported
closely correlated with social behaviours
- patterns more accurate self reported data
observational study - difference between alcohol and wine on cancer
- denmark
(24000 subjects)
Alcohol negative effect
Wine mild protective effect (j-shaped)
- not as pronounced as CVD
Observational study: alcohol on type of cancer (women only)
Wine decreased risk of many cancers
Wine increased risk of cancer in:
- upper digestive tract
- breast
observational study: alcohol effect on cancer for smokers and non-smokers (upper digestive tract)
never smoked
- no increased risk of cancer with alcohol consumption
current smokers
- in combination, alcohol caused large increase in risk of cancer
Should people drink?
Evidence supports moderate consumers can continue to do so… But
Public health perspective
- not enough evidence to suggest people start
What is resveratrol
hydrophobic polyphenol
- high concentration in grape skins and red wine (many other, but lower concentrations)
- anti-oxident, anti-fungal
- defence mechanism of plant
- increase content by increasing stress
Approximate content of resveratrol in red wine
2-12 mg/L (variable)
Status of resveratrol evidence on cancer
Large # of observational and animal studies per year with positive results
Very few human clinical trials available
- significance still low
