This prospective cohort from the Copenhagen City Heart Study investigated the combined influence of leisure-time physical activity and weekly alcohol intake on the risk of subsequent fatal ischemic heart disease (IHD) and all-cause mortality in 11,914 adults Danes followed for 20 years. Among this cohort of participants aged 20 years or older and without pre-existing IHD, the authors found that being physically active and drinking a moderate amount of alcohol lowered the risk of both fatal IHD and all-cause mortality. Moreover, this study revealed that being physically active significantly increased the risk-lowering effect of moderate weekly alcohol intake. Physically inactive participants did not benefit from moderate weekly alcohol intake. In fact, neither physical activity nor alcohol intake alone can completely reverse the increased risk associated with physical inactivity and alcohol abstention, suggesting that leisure-time physical activity and moderate weekly alcohol intake both play an important role in lowering the risk of fatal IHD and all-cause mortality.
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