Alcohol >>> Bone Fracture

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Hi folks:

Booze intake increases risk of bone fracture, but only at intakes

exceeding two units per day, apparently:

" Alcohol intake as a risk factor for fracture.

Kanis JA, Johansson H, ell O, Oden A, De Laet C, Eisman JA, Pols

H, Tenenhouse A.

WHO Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases, University of

Sheffield Medical School, Beech Hill Road, S10 2RX, Sheffield, UK.

High intakes of alcohol have adverse effects on skeletal health, but

evidence for the effects of moderate consumption are less secure. The

aim of this study was to quantify this risk on an international basis

and explore the relationship of this risk with age, sex, and bone

mineral density (BMD). We studied 5,939 men and 11,032 women from

three prospectively studied cohorts comprising CaMos, DOES, and the

Rotterdam Study. Cohorts were followed for a total of 75,433 person-

years. The effect of reported alcohol intake on the risk of any

fracture, any osteoporotic fracture, and hip fracture alone was

examined using a Poisson model for each sex from each cohort.

Covariates examined included age and BMD. The results of the

different studies were merged using weighted beta-coefficients.

Alcohol intake was associated with a significant increase in

osteoporotic and hip fracture risk, but the effect was nonlinear. No

significant increase in risk was observed at intakes of 2 units or

less daily. Above this threshold, alcohol intake was associated with

an increased risk of any fracture (risk ratio [RR]=1.23; 95% CI, 1.06-

1.43), any osteoporotic fracture (RR=1.38; 95% CI, 1.16-1.65), or hip

fracture (RR=1.68; 95% CI, 1.19-2.36). There was no significant

interaction with age, BMD, or time since baseline assessment. Risk

ratios were moderately but not significantly higher in men than in

women, and there was no evidence for a different threshold for effect

by gender. We conclude that reported intake of alcohol confers a risk

of some importance beyond that explained by BMD. The validation of

this risk factor on an international basis permits its use in case-

finding strategies.

PMID: 15455194 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher.] "