Alcohol Intake and Parkinson's Disease Risk in the Million Women Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND Alcohol intake may be associated with a lower risk of Parkinson's disease (PD), but findings from previous studies have been inconclusive. OBJECTIVE To determine the association between alcohol intake and PD risk in the Million Women Study, a large, prospective study of women in the UK. METHODS Between 1996 and 2001, approximately 1.3 million women in the UK, mean age 56 (standard deviation, 5) years, were recruited into the Million Women Study. Information on alcohol intake, lifestyle factors, and medical history was collected at recruitment by questionnaire. Information on incident cases of PD was ascertained by record linkage to national hospital admission records and death registrations. We estimated multivariable‐adjusted relative risks and corresponding 95% confidence intervals using Cox proportional hazards models according to categories of alcohol intake. RESULTS During an average of 17.9 years of follow‐up, 11,009 women had a new record of PD among 1,309,267 women. In drinkers, the multivariable‐adjusted relative risk comparing women who drank more than 14 drinks of alcohol per week with women who drank 1 to 2 drinks of alcohol per week was 0.99 (95% confidence interval: 0.90, 1.10). Results did not materially change after excluding the first 10 years of follow‐up (relative riskadjusted = 1.01; 95% confidence interval: 0.90, 1.13). There were no significant trends in alcohol‐related PD risk among never smokers. Additionally, examining this association by type of alcohol intake also yielded null findings. CONCLUSION These results do not support an association between alcohol intake and PD risk in women. © 2019 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Parkinson's Disease Risk and Alcohol Intake: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies

“…The manual literature search identified two studies (22,24). Thus, 11 eligible studies were included (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). We only included the data from external control subjects for the Swedish Twin Registry study in which two control groups were reported (23).…”

“…Table 1 presents the basic characteristics of the included studies. There were three case-control studies nested within prospective cohorts (20,22,23) and eight prospective cohort studies (21,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). Four studies were conducted in the United States (20,21,25,26), two in Asia (24,28), and five in Europe (22,23,27,29,30).…”

“…There were three case-control studies nested within prospective cohorts (20,22,23) and eight prospective cohort studies (21,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). Four studies were conducted in the United States (20,21,25,26), two in Asia (24,28), and five in Europe (22,23,27,29,30). Ascertainment of PD was identified by reviewing death certificates, hospital discharge summaries, and other types of medical records.…”

“…Alcohol exposure was measured using a mailed or self-administered questionnaire, or an in-person interview questionnaire. The reference category of alcohol exposure was nondrinkers in seven studies (20)(21)(22)(23)(25)(26)(27)(28) and light consumers (0-4.9 g/day) in another three studies (24,29,30).…”

Impact of Alcohol Abuse on Susceptibility to Rare Neurodegenerative Diseases

“…Not only does alcohol misuse damage physical and mental health, lifestyle, and family life ( Donovan et al, 2005 ), recent studies suggest that a history of AUD is a major risk factor for common neurodegenerative disorders, such as, AD and related dementias, but not for some other neurodegenerative diseases ( Schwarzinger et al, 2018 ; Venkataraman et al, 2016 ; Heymann et al, 2016 ; Tyas, 1996 ; Xue et al, 2017 ). Specifically, regular alcohol consumption averaging around 3 drinks per day increases the risk of neurodegenerative dementias ( Xu et al, 2017 ), whereas there is no association between alcohol intake and the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease ( Jiménez-Jiménez et al, ; Kim et al, 2020 ); and only a conditional association in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( D'Ovidio et al, 2019 ). As many as 65% of adults report a history of either AUD or PAE, yet only about 10% of the individuals struggling with AUD will seek treatment, and there are many obstacles to long-term abstinence e.g.…”