Alcohol consumption and risks of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in Japanese men and women

This article focuses on selected large prospective cohort studies that examined the effect of alcohol consumption on the risks of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in Japanese men and women. Regardless of age and sex, alcohol consumption was positively associated with an increased risk of hypertension. There was a J-shaped association between alcohol consumption and the risks of stroke and cardiovascular disease in Japanese men, which was consistent with the findings of the studies conducted by Western countries. Few studies have been conducted to examine the effect of alcohol consumption on the risks of stroke and coronary heart disease in Asian women. We first showed that heavy alcohol consumption of >= 300 g ethanol/week was associated with increased risk of total stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, intraparenchymal hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage and ischemic stroke in women while light drinking was not associated with a reduced risk of stroke. Furthemore, heavy drinking (>= 46.0 g ethanol/day) had an increased risk of mortality from coronary heart disease in women, whereas light drinking (0.1-22.9 g ethanol/day) had a reduced risk of mortality from total cardiovascular disease. The association between alcohol consumption and the risk of stroke was modified by social support and salt preference.