SynthesisAddiction (Abingdon, England)2012
The cardioprotective association of average alcohol consumption and ischaemic heart disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 110 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Role of Alcohol Consumption in the Aetiology of Different Cardiovascular Disease Phenotypes: a CALIBER Study Using Linked Electronic Health Records
Alcohol Consumption and Time-to-onset for Coronary Heart Disease: An Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis
W.I.S.E.-Wine Implementation for Surgical Recovery Enhancement
Who cites it
110 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 251 citations in OpenAlex.
- A review of the relationship between dimensions of alcohol consumption and the burden of disease: 2026 update including Mendelian randomisation studies.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Association Between Daily Alcohol Intake and Risk of All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-analyses.JAMA network open · 2023Pooled it
- Smoking, alcohol and opioids effect on coronary microcirculation: an update overview.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2021Pooled it
- Evaluation of confounding in epidemiologic studies assessing alcohol consumption on the risk of ischemic heart disease.BMC medical research methodology · 2020Pooled it
- Association of longitudinal alcohol consumption trajectories with coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis of six cohort studies using individual participant data.BMC medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Sex-Specific Associations Between Alcohol Consumption and Incidence of Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2018Pooled it
- Cardiovascular Disease and Breast Cancer: Where These Entities Intersect: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.Circulation · 2018Pooled it
- The relationship between different dimensions of alcohol use and the burden of disease-an update.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2017Pooled it
- Alcohol Consumption and Mortality From Coronary Heart Disease: An Updated Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2017Pooled it
- Differing association of alcohol consumption with different stroke types: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Is alcohol consumption a risk factor for prostate cancer? A systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cancer · 2016Pooled it
- Do "Moderate" Drinkers Have Reduced Mortality Risk? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Alcohol Consumption and All-Cause Mortality.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2016Pooled it
- The association between alcohol use and cardiovascular disease among people living with HIV: a systematic review.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2015Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Association between clinically recorded alcohol consumption and initial presentation of 12 cardiovascular diseases: population based cohort study using linked health records.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2017Trial
- Risk factors for atrial fibrillation in patients with normal versus dilated left atrium (from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study).The American journal of cardiology · 2014Trial
- Does educational attainment modify the relationship between alcohol use and ischemic heart disease mortality? Evidence from the UK biobank.Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases : NMCD · 2026Article
- Incidence and risk factors of acute kidney injury after myocardial infarction; a prospective cohort study with impact of timing of presentation on other risk factors.BMC nephrology · 2026Article
- Long-term outcomes of a digital alcohol intervention targeting online help-seekers: a simulation study of incidence of disease, quality-adjusted life-years and costs.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- The Link between Alcohol Consumption and Kidney Injury.The American journal of pathology · 2026Review
50 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimsMost, but not all, epidemiological studies suggest a cardioprotective association for low to moderate average alcohol consumption. The objective was to quantify the dose-response relationship between average alcohol consumption and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) stratified by sex and IHD end-point (mortality versus morbidity).
methodsA systematic search of published studies using electronic databases (1980-2010) identified 44 observational studies (case-control or cohort) reporting a relative risk measure for average alcohol intake in relation to IHD risk. Generalized least-squares trend models were used to derive the best-fitting dose-response curves in stratified continuous meta-analyses. Categorical meta-analyses were used to verify uncertainty for low to moderate levels of consumption in comparison to long-term abstainers.
resultsThe analyses used 38,627 IHD events (mortality or morbidity) among 957,684 participants. Differential risk curves were found by sex and end-point. Although some form of a cardioprotective association was confirmed in all strata, substantial heterogeneity across studies remained unexplained and confidence intervals were relatively wide, in particular for average consumption of one to two drinks/day.
conclusionsA cardioprotective association between alcohol use and ischaemic heart disease cannot be assumed for all drinkers, even at low levels of intake. More evidence on the overall benefit-risk ratio of average alcohol consumption in relation to ischaemic heart disease and other diseases is needed in order to inform the general public or physicians about safe or low-risk drinking levels.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.