Men Who Heavily Drink Carry Higher Risk for Late AMD

TOPLINE:
Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a lower risk for progression to late age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in men. Geographic atrophy (GA) progression developed more quickly in women.
METHODOLOGY:
Researchers conducted a post hoc analysis of a randomized clinical trial to investigate the associations between alcohol consumption and the risk for progression to AMD, including progression to late AMD, and the rate of GA enlargement.
They evaluated the risk for progression to late AMD and its subtypes in 6670 eyes with no late AMD at baseline from 3673 participants (mean age, 72.9 years; 56.9% women).
The rate of GA area–based progression was evaluated in 1143 eyes with GA from 841 participants (mean age, 74.9 years; 57.8% women) with more than two consecutive visits; the rate of GA proximity–based progression was evaluated in 808 eyes with noncentral GA from 638 participants (mean age, 74.8 years; 59.1% women).
Alcohol consumption was quantified through a 131-item semiquantitative Harvard food frequency questionnaire, measuring intake in grams per day and defined as no alcohol (tertile 1), three drinks a week (tertile 2), between four and eight for women and between four and 15 for men (tertile 3).
Heavy drinking was defined as more than eight drinks a week for women and more than 15 drinks for men.
TAKEAWAY:
In men, consuming three alcoholic drinks a week was significantly associated with a lower risk for progression to late AMD than no alcohol consumption (hazard ratio [HR], 0.69; 95% CI, 0.55 – 0.87; P = .0015); In women, consuming between three to eight drinks a week was associated with lower risk (HR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.72-1.00; P = .046).
Heavy drinking showed no significant association with any of the conditions in men or women.
No alcohol consumption and tertile 3 consumption were associated with faster GA area-based progression in men, while tertile 2 consumption was associated with slower progression. Similar trends were observed among women, but tertile 2 consumption was associated with greater progression than men, at 0.295 (P = .51) vs 0.183 (P = .0002), respectively.
Alcohol consumption was not associated with a statistically significant altered proximity-based progression of GA in either men or women.
IN PRACTICE:
“Although some of these associations may also relate to confounding, they might suggest that individuals with GA should avoid high alcohol consumption,” the study authors wrote. 
SOURCE:
The study was led by Cameron Duic and Emily Vance, both of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications at the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Md. It was published online on November 13, 2024, in Ophthalmology Retina.
LIMITATIONS:
The observational design of the study may have limited causal inferences, and potential inaccuracies in alcohol intake reporting, lack of historical consumption data, and grouping of abstainers with former heavy drinkers may have constrained the interpretation of the results. Data on temporal drinking patterns and binge behaviors were also not captured. Moreover, reliance on color fundus photography may have reduced the accuracy of GA detection.
DISCLOSURES:
The research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Eye Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and Department of Health and Human Services. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
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