Education, moderate alcohol linked to lower lung disease

College education and moderate alcohol intake is linked to lower chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk, says a new study.

COPD is one of the most common lung diseases, having two forms; chronic bronchitis, which involves a long-term cough with mucus, and emphysema, which involves destruction of the lungs over time. Most COPD patients have a combination of both conditions. Its leading cause is smoking.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Oakland, California, followed 126,019 people who supplied baseline data from 1978-1985 through 2008 with analyses of hospitalisations attributed to COPD (emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or chronic airway obstruction), according to a Kaiser Permanente statement.

Although cigarette smoking, increasing age, and history of respiratory disease/symptoms were powerful predictors of COPD, results also showed that Asian Americans (versus whites) and college graduates (versus no college students) were at a moderately lower risk for COPD, as were persons reporting one to two drinks daily (versus lifelong abstainers).

This study was presented during CHEST 2012, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, being held Oct 20-25, in Atlanta, Georgia.