Association of cumulative alcohol consumption in young people with stroke risk

Heavy alcohol consumption is an important and modifiable risk factor for stroke, and the association between alcohol consumption and stroke risk is mainly derived from cross-sectional measurements
of alcohol consumption at a single time point.
A recent study assessed the association between alcohol consumption assessed annually over a four-year period and subsequent stroke risk, particularly in young people
.
Using data from the Korea National Health Insurance database, the researchers identified nearly 6.
9 million young people
aged 20~39 who received at least one health check between 2009 and 2012.
After excluding people who had not been screened for four consecutive years, had missing data, or had a history of stroke, about 1.
5 million young people (72% were men; mean age, 29.
5 years) were included in this analysis
.
Each person's cumulative alcohol consumption is scored on a scale of 0~4 points, and if the self-reported weekly drinking volume ≥ 105 grams (roughly equivalent to 2 standard drinks per day), 1 point
per year.

A mean of 3,153 new strokes occurred during a mean follow-up of 5.
6 years (37 strokes per 100,000 person-years).

People with a drinking volume score of 2, 3 or 4 have a 19%~23% higher risk of stroke compared with a drinking volume score of 0
.
The risk is mainly caused by hemorrhagic stroke, and people with a score of 2, 3 or 4 have a 30%~42% higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke compared with a score of 0
.

comments

Although this analysis is based on self-reported alcohol consumption and may not be representative of the larger group of young people in Korea, it is important
to have a better understanding of the relationship between alcohol consumption and stroke given the increasing per capita alcohol consumption globally.

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