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51/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 51 out of 100. Risk factors

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

An extensive body of data shows concordant J-shaped associations between alcohol intake and a variety of adverse health outcomes, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, stroke, dementia, Raynaud's phenomenon, and all-cause mortality. Light to moderate alcohol consumption (up to 1 drink daily for women and 1 or 2 drinks daily for men) is associated with cardioprotective benefits, whereas increasingly excessive consumption results in proportional worsening of outcomes. Alcohol consumption confers cardiovascular protection predominately through improvements in insulin sensitivity and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The ethanol itself, rather than specific components of various alcoholic beverages, appears to be the major factor in conferring health benefits. Low-dose daily alcohol is associated with better health than less frequent consumption. Binge drinking, even among otherwise light drinkers, increases cardiovascular events and mortality. Alcohol should not be universally prescribed for health enhancement to nondrinking individuals owing to the lack of randomized outcome data and the potential for problem drinking.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

O'Keefe, J. H., Bybee, K. A., & Lavie, C. J. (2007). Alcohol and cardiovascular health: the razor-sharp double-edged sword. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2007.04.089

Vancouver

O'Keefe JH, Bybee KA, Lavie CJ. Alcohol and cardiovascular health: the razor-sharp double-edged sword. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2007. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2007.04.089. PMID: 17825708.

BibTeX

@article{okeefe2007-17825708,
  author  = {O'Keefe, J. H. and Bybee, K. A. and Lavie, C. J.},
  title   = {{Alcohol and cardiovascular health: the razor-sharp double-edged sword}},
  journal = {Journal of the American College of Cardiology},
  year    = {2007},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.jacc.2007.04.089},
  pmid    = {17825708},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2007.04.089}
}

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Key findings

Light to moderate alcohol consumption (up to 1 drink daily for women and 1 or 2 drinks daily for men) is associated with cardioprotective benefits, whereas increasingly excessive consumption results in proportional worsening of outcomes.
Low-dose daily alcohol is associated with better health than less frequent consumption.

Why it matters

This review describes J-shaped links between alcohol intake and various health outcomes including dementia, with light to moderate drinking linked to protective effects and heavier drinking to worse outcomes. It advises against prescribing alcohol for health, citing lack of randomized data and risk of problem drinking, and reports no treatment or cure for Alzheimer's disease.

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Study details

Evidence strengthHigh

How this study scored 51/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of the American College of Cardiology)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Journal of the American College of Cardiology: journal h-index 618 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	5 / 5	Rated “high” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2007 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 468 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	22.3 citations a year over 21 year(s) since 2007
Impact for its field and year	5 / 6	Cited 23.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 40 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Carl J. Lavie: h-index 136 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	0 / 3	University of Missouri–Kansas City: institution h-index 490 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 17825708)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	51 / 100	—

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