Cigarette Smoking, Alcohol Consumption, and Risk of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Case-control Study in a Japanese Population
The Journal of Rheumatology, 05/16/2012
Kiyohara C et al. – The results suggest that smoking was positively associated with increased systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) risk whereas light/moderate alcohol consumption was inversely associated with SLE risk, irrespective of the type of alcoholic beverage. Additional studies are warranted to confirm these findings.
Methods- The authors investigated the relationship of smoking and drinking compared to SLE risk among 171 SLE cases and 492 healthy controls in female Japanese subjects.
- Unconditional logistic regression was used to compute OR and 95% CI, with adjustments for several covariates.
- Compared with nonsmoking, current smoking was significantly associated with increased risk of SLE (OR 3.06, 95% CI 1.86–5.03).
- The higher the level of exposure to cigarette smoke, the higher the risk of SLE.
- Inhalation was also associated with increased SLE risk (OR 3.73, 95% CI 1.46–9.94 for moderate inhalation; OR 3.06, 95% CI 1.81–5.15 for deep inhalation).
- In contrast, light/moderate alcohol consumption had a protective effect on SLE risk (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.19–0.76).
- As for beer, the risks for non–beer drinkers and beer drinkers were similar.
- This also applies to alcoholic beverages other than beer.
