Moderate alcohol intake reduces risk of ischemic stroke in Korea
Citation Manager Formats
Make Comment
See Comments

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Objective: We undertook a population-based, case-control study to examine a dose-response relationship between alcohol intake and risk of ischemic stroke in Koreans who had different alcoholic beverage type preferences than Western populations and to examine the effect modifications by sex and ischemic stroke subtypes.
Methods: Cases (n = 1,848) were recruited from patients aged 20 years or older with first-ever ischemic stroke. Stroke-free controls (n = 3,589) were from the fourth and fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and were matched to the cases by age (±3 years), sex, and education level. All participants completed an interview using a structured questionnaire about alcohol intake.
Results: Light to moderate alcohol intake, 3 or 4 drinks (1 drink = 10 g ethanol) per day, was significantly associated with a lower odds of ischemic stroke after adjusting for potential confounders (no drinks: reference; <1 drink: odds ratio 0.38, 95% confidence interval 0.32–0.45; 1–2 drinks: 0.45, 0.36–0.57; and 3–4 drinks: 0.54, 0.39–0.74). The threshold of alcohol effect in women was slightly lower than that in men (up to 1–2 drinks in women vs up to 3–4 drinks in men), but this difference was not statistically significant. There was no statistical interaction between alcohol intake and the subtypes of ischemic stroke (p = 0.50). The most frequently used alcoholic beverage was one native to Korea, soju (78% of the cases), a distilled beverage with 20% ethanol by volume.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that light to moderate distilled alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of ischemic stroke in Koreans.
GLOSSARY
- CI=
- confidence interval;
- CRCS=
- Clinical Research Center for Stroke;
- KNHANES=
- Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey;
- OR=
- odds ratio
Footnotes
The study results were presented at the International Stroke Conference 2014, San Diego, CA, February 12–14, 2014.
Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
CRCS-5 coinvestigators are listed on the Neurology® Web site at Neurology.org.
Supplemental data at Neurology.org
- Received March 16, 2015.
- Accepted in final form August 3, 2015.
- © 2015 American Academy of Neurology
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
For assistance, please contact:
AAN Members (800) 879-1960 or (612) 928-6000 (International)
Non-AAN Member subscribers (800) 638-3030 or (301) 223-2300 option 3, select 1 (international)
Sign Up
Information on how to subscribe to Neurology and Neurology: Clinical Practice can be found here
Purchase
Individual access to articles is available through the Add to Cart option on the article page. Access for 1 day (from the computer you are currently using) is US$ 39.00. Pay-per-view content is for the use of the payee only, and content may not be further distributed by print or electronic means. The payee may view, download, and/or print the article for his/her personal, scholarly, research, and educational use. Distributing copies (electronic or otherwise) of the article is not allowed.
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
- ALDH Polymorphism, drinking habits and risk of stroke
- Hee-Joon Bae, Professor, Seoul National University College of Medicine & Bundang Hospital, Republic of Koreabraindoc@snu.ac.kr
- Republic of Korea
Submitted February 17, 2016 - Re: Moderate alcohol intake reduces risk of ischemic stroke in Korea
- Bossng Kang, professor, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Koreaolivertwkbs@gmail.com
Submitted November 16, 2015
REQUIREMENTS
If you are uploading a letter concerning an article:
You must have updated your disclosures within six months: http://submit.neurology.org
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Hemiplegic Migraine Associated With PRRT2 Variations A Clinical and Genetic Study
Dr. Robert Shapiro and Dr. Amynah Pradhan