There is a link between alcohol consumption and increased
risk of perennial allergic rhinitis, according to a recent
Danish study of 5,870 young adult women. The study, published
in the July issue of Clinical and Experimental Allergy,
found that the risk increased 3% for every additional alcoholic
drink per week. In contrast, the authors did not observe
any increase in risk of seasonal allergic rhinitis according
to alcohol intake.
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is an upper respiratory disorder
affecting between 10% and 40% of the population worldwide,
and over the last decades, the prevalence of AR has increased
in westernised countries. Alcohol consumption is part of
the western lifestyle and it has been proposed that alcohol
consumption may be one of the factors contributing to the
rise in AR, especially because alcohol is a well-known
trigger of hypersensitivity reactions and there is evidence
that it influences the immune system.
The 5,870 women studied were aged 20-29 years and free
of seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis at the start
of the study. They were asked about different lifestyle
habits including their general alcohol intake, measured
in drinks per week (i.e. glasses of wine, bottles of beer).
After a time period of seven to nine years, the women were
contacted again and 831 women had developed seasonal AR
and 523 had women developed perennial AR, 14% and 9% respectively.
The authors observed a general tendency that the more
alcohol the women reported they drank, the higher their
risk of developing perennial allergic rhinitis. For instance,
women who reported drinking more than 14 drinks a week
were 78% more likely to develop perennial allergic rhinitis
than women who had reported drinking less than one drink
a week.
"Our study was carried out on female participants
only, and it should be recognised that there is evidence
to suggest that women may be more susceptible to some of
the genetically harmful effects of alcohol than men, perhaps
due to differences in fat to water ratio or liver mass
to body weight ratio," said lead author Dr. Janne
Tolstrup, National Institute of Public Health, Denmark. "Because
of this it would be interesting to examine gender differences
in the possible effects of alcohol on the development of
rhinitis."
"Another interesting finding of this study was that
smokers were found to have a decreased risk of seasonal
AR, with no change to the risk of perennial AR," said
Tolstrup. "We also found that if one or both parents
had asthma, the participant was more likely to have perennial
AR and this was exacerbated in women who drank over 14
drinks a week."
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press
release.
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Source: Jennifer Beal
Wiley-Blackwell
