Millwood IY, et al. - To determine the association of cardiovascular risk with genotype-predicted mean alcohol intake in males vs women in the prospective China Kadoorie Biobank, researchers recruited 512,715 adults between June 25, 2004 and July 15, 2008, from ten regions of China. They noted 33% of men said they drink alcohol most weeks (principally as spirits) vs only 2% of women. They found a U-shaped association of self-reported alcohol intake with the incidence of ischemic stroke (n=14,930), intracerebral hemorrhage (n=3,496), and acute myocardial infarction (n=2,958) among males. They also reported lower risks of all three diseases in men who reported drinking about 100 g of alcohol per week (one to two drinks per day) vs non-drinkers or heavier drinkers. They recorded an apparent mostly non-causal protective influence of moderate alcohol intake against stroke via genetic epidemiology. Blood pressure and stroke risk are uniformly increased with alcohol consumption, with low impact on myocardial infarction.