Alcohol and tobacco consumption as risk factors for alzheimer’sdisease: A collaborative re-analysisof case-control studies

Abstract

A meta-analysis, involving the secondary analysis of original data from 11 case-control studies of Alzheimer’s disease, is presented for alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking. Five studies were included in the meta-analysis of alcoholconsumption. Alcohol consumption was computed in terms of average weekly intake, measured in ounces of ’purealcohol’. This variable was categorized into tertiles to represent low, medium and high intake. Analyses showed noexcess estimated risk of Alzheimer’s disease for any level of alcohol intake. Smoking was analysed in three differentmanners: (1) lifetime prevalence of smoking (ever/never)—this included eight studies; (2) amount smoked (less thanor equal ..