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Gene study (Mendelian randomization)

Gene study in Chinese men: no clear link between drinking and self-reported heart disease

Au Yeung and colleagues · PloS one · 2013

Original title: Moderate alcohol use and cardiovascular disease from Mendelian randomization.

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What the study found

No difference

Alcohol was linked to higher HDL cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure. Self-reported heart disease showed no clear link: OR 0.98 (95% CI 0.76 to 1.27) for CVD and OR 1.10 (95% CI 0.83 to 1.45) for IHD.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Gene study (Mendelian randomization)
Who or what was studied
men in the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study in China
What was tested
Gene-predicted alcohol use (10 g ethanol a day) and heart risk factors and self-reported heart disease
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
Who has a stake
No stake declared
Only journal editor roles declared; no company ties.
Journal
PloS one, 2013
Source
PubMed record 23874492. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • •A gene study: it uses natural gene differences as a kind of experiment. It is less affected by lifestyle than surveys, but it rests on assumptions that can fail.
  • •The abstract does not say how many people took part.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: heart disease

    0

    Not done yet. This is the step that would answer the question.

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    5

    3 benefit, 1 mixed, 1 harm

  5. Blood levels and genes

    6

    1 mixed, 2 no difference, 3 harm

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Is moderate drinking good or bad for your heart?”

Not shown to help; may harm.

Confidence: very low. Based on 21 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 5 papers on the same step: 1 mixed, 1 no difference, 3 harm. This one found no difference. It differs from most of them.

Other papers on the same step

See all 21 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads differed. The reviewer checked the abstract and kept the first read. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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