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Background: Although the J-shaped relation between alcohol intake and mortality has been reproduced in many large cohort studies, the question of whether the effects of beer, wine, and spirits differ remains controversial. Objective: To examine the relation between intake of different types of alcohol and death from all causes, coronary heart disease, and cancer. Design: Pooled cohort studies in which intake of beer, wine, and spirits; smoking status; educational level; physical activity; and body mass index were assessed at baseline. Setting: Copenhagen, Denmark. Participants: 13 064 men and 11 459 women 20 to 98 years of age. Measurements: Number of deaths and time to death from all causes, coronary heart disease, and cancer during follow-up. Results: During 257 859 person-years of follow-up, 4833 participants died. J-shaped relations were found between total alcohol intake and mortality at various levels of wine intake. Compared with nondrinkers, light drinkers who avoided wine had a relative risk for death from all causes of 0.90 (95% CI, 0.82 to 0.99) and those who drank wine had a relative risk of 0.66 (CI, 0.55 to 0.77). Heavy drinkers who avoided wine were at higher risk for death from all causes than were heavy drinkers who included wine in their alcohol intake. Wine drinkers had significantly lower mortality from both coronary heart disease and cancer than did nonwine drinkers (P = 0.007 and P = 0.004, respectively). Conclusion: Wine intake may have a beneficial effect on all-cause mortality that is additive to that of alcohol. This effect may be attributable to a reduction in death from both coronary heart disease and cancer.

Former studies on the association between snoring and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have only partly taken established CVD risk factors into consideration. In the Copenhagen Male Study, 3,323 men aged 54 [...]

The nicotine concentration in samples of house dust from the homes of 34 smokers and 38 nonsmokers was analyzed using a gas chromatographic method. A strong positive correlation (r = .65,p, 'Involuntary smoking', exposure to secondary tobacco smoke, has been implicated a cause of increase risk for lung cancer. In addition to the smoke, nonsmokers may be exposed to residual particulates and dust remaining in the air and on surfaces in a room where smoking occurred. Using residual nicotine content as a marker, investigators sought to determine the level and magnitude of residual smoke dust. Participants were selected from participants in the Copenhagen Male Study. Thirty-two smokers and 40 non-smokers in the study completed demographic questionnaires and received a set of instructions for collecting dust. Thirty-four homes had at least one smoker, and 38 were nonsmoking control homes. Specific information regarding the nature of wall and floor coverings was elicited to determine surface areas from which dusts were collected. As expected, the residual nicotine found in the homes of smokers was substantially higher than in the nonsmoking residences. The residual inhaled nicotine laden dust was significantly less than the amount typically inhaled during smoking. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.), Indoor Dust Exposure: An Unnoticed Aspect of Involuntary Smoking DURING the 1980s, several epidemiological studies indicated a correlation between exposure to involuntary smoking and increased risk of lung cancer. [1-4] [...]