The role of the regularity of alcohol consumption throughout the week and the effect of heavy regular or binge drinking on cardiovascular mortality and morbidity are factors that have recently aroused interest.18 19 20 21 22 23 Moreover, few studies have looked at outcomes in countries where lifestyle and drinking habits are known to contrast markedly. Variation in such behaviours could lead to different incidence of ischaemic heart disease. For example, the incidence of ischaemic heart disease is higher in Northern Ireland than in France.24 Is it possible that this disparity could be the result, at least partly, of the alcohol behaviours specific to each country? To assess these issues, we used data from the Prospective Epidemiological Study of Myocardial Infarction (PRIME) cohort to analyse the patterns of alcohol consumption and their relation to the incidence of “hard” coronary events (myocardial infarction and coronary death) and angina pectoris events in men aged 50-59 years in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and in three cities in France.
