According to research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, early onset of drinking may be modestly associated with cardiovascular risk factors that are used to define the metabolic syndrome (MetS).

This population-based cross-sectional study, included 2818 regular drinkers selected from healthy controls for the Western New York Health Study (1996–2001) in which lifetime lifestyle was ascertained retrospectively. Prevalence of the MetS and its individual components, including obesity, high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, and high fasting glucose, were the main outcomes.

Trajectory analyses were based on estimates of total kilograms of ethanol for each age decade between 10 and 59 yr. Two groups of drinkers with distinct lifetime drinking trajectories were obtained, an early peak and a stable trajectory group. Compared with stable trajectory drinkers, early-peak drinkers were 10 yrs younger on average, had earlier onset of regular drinking, drank heavily in late adolescence and early adulthood tapering off in middle age, averaged more drinks per drinking day in lifetime, and were more likely to abstain when interviewed.

After controlling for age, sex, and other potential confounders, early-peak trajectories were modestly associated with high odds of the MetS [1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00, 1.71] overall, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (1.62; 95% CI 1.27, 2.08), abdominal obesity (1.48; 95% CI 1.23, 1.78), and overweight (1.32; 95% CI 1.10, 1.60).

The authors conclude that an early initiation of alcohol drinking and heavy drinking in adolescence and early adulthood may be associated with an adverse cardiometabolic profile.

Source: Association of Lifetime Alcohol Drinking Trajectories with Cardiometabolic Risk, Amy Z. Fan, Marcia Russell, Saverio Stranges, Joan Dorn and Maurizio Trevisan The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 93, No. 1 154-161