Non-heavy alcohol use associates with liver fibrosis and ‘nonalcoholic’ steatohepatitis in the Framingham Heart Study

Background and AimsWhile heavy alcohol use consistently associates with liver disease, the effects of non-heavy alcohol consumption are less understood. We aimed to investigate the relationship between non-heavy alcohol use and chronic liver disease.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 2629 current drinkers in the Framingham Heart Study who completed alcohol use questionnaires and transient elastography. We defined …

Continue reading Non-heavy alcohol use associates with liver fibrosis and ‘nonalcoholic’ steatohepatitis in the Framingham Heart Study

Spironolactone as a potential new pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder: convergent evidence from rodent and human studies

Evidence suggests that spironolactone, a nonselective mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonist, modulates alcohol seeking and consumption. Therefore, spironolactone may represent a novel pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder (AUD). In this study, we tested the effects of spironolactone in a mouse model of alcohol drinking (drinking-in-the-dark) and in a rat model of alcohol dependence (vapor exposure). We …

Continue reading Spironolactone as a potential new pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder: convergent evidence from rodent and human studies

Risk of fractures and subsequent mortality in alcohol-related cirrhosis: A nationwide population-based cohort study

Background and aimsAlcohol-related cirrhosis is linked to increased risk of fractures, but this has seldom been quantified nationally or compared against non-cirrhotic controls. Here, we determined the rate and risk of fractures and post-fracture mortality in patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis compared to individuals from the general population.MethodsIn this nationwide population-based cohort study, data were retrieved …

Continue reading Risk of fractures and subsequent mortality in alcohol-related cirrhosis: A nationwide population-based cohort study

Association of Habitual Alcohol Intake With Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Importance Observational studies have consistently proposed cardiovascular benefits associated with light alcohol consumption, while recent genetic analyses (ie, mendelian randomization studies) have suggested a possible causal link between alcohol intake and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, traditional approaches to genetic epidemiology assume a linear association and thus have not fully evaluated dose-response estimates of …

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Prospective associations between alcohol consumption and psychological well-being in midlife

BackgroundAlcohol consumption potentially influences psychological well-being in beneficial and harmful ways, but prospective studies on the association show mixed results. Our main purpose was to examine prospective associations between alcohol consumption and psychological well-being in middle-aged men and women. MethodsThe study sample included 4148 middle-aged individuals (80% men) from the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank …

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