Due to the complexity of processes leading to IHD and general limitations of observational studies, the protective effect of alcohol on IHD risk remains a highly debated topic. In many of the older studies on IHD risk, alcohol measurement failed to take into account variability of alcohol consumption over time by relying on one baseline measurement. In addition, a recent review by Fillmore and colleagues [133] suggested that the cardiac protection caused by alcohol might have been over-estimated. According to the authors, many studies had used contaminated abstainer groups by not excluding former drinkers from this group. Because former drinkers have a significantly different risk profile from true lifetime abstainers, risk estimates may have been inflated (the so called “sick quitter” effect; see [134]). This led Fillmore and colleagues to infer that regular light to moderate drinking might be a marker for good health among older people, but not a cause of it [133]. While this effect would seriously bias risk estimates when abstainers (including former drinkers with substantial prior alcohol consumption) are the reference category, three major points underline
