Hyun Chul Joung, Hyun Ju Yang, Jong Sung Kim, Sung Soo Kim, Seok Joon Yoon, Jung Wei Chang

Department of Family Medicine, Research Institute for Medical Sciences, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea


Background: Alcohol is personal and social problem around the world. Though binge drinking is associated with the elevation of arbohydrate deficient trasnferrin and r-glutamyl transpeptidase, studies of the relationship between heavy drinking and other biological markers are rare. The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between heavy drinking and CBC figures through flushing and non flushing using both NIAAA and Korean guidelines.
Methods: The subjects were 581 Korean adult males: who had undergone a comprehensive medical evaluation at Chungnam National University Hospital between June and December of 2013. 98 of total were non-drinkers, 225 of them flushers, and the rest 258 of them were non-flushers. One standard drink is defined as any drink that contains 14 grams of alcohol. Criteria for immoderate drinking was applied to greater than 14 glasses/week and more than 8 glasses on any day for a non-flush group with reference to the United States’ guideline (National Institute in Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIAAA) and South Korean guideline, and it was also applied to greater than seven glasses/week, and more than four glasses on any day for a flushing group. It was to investigate whether immoderate drinking would be predictable according to increased mean corpuscular volume (MCV), decreased hemoglobin (Hb), and decreased platelet (PLT). Our investigation was to find the correlation with the increased MCV, decreased Hb, and decreased PLT as a means of predictions for immoderate drinking. The study was to examine the CBC's predictability of immoderate drinking through a combination of increased MCV, decreased Hb, or decreased PLT. If one of these three items were abnormal: group A, if two of the three items were abnormal: group B.
Results: Predictability of group A was 23.1% in flushing drinkers and 21.7% in non-flushing drinkers for US NIAAA immoderate drinking, whereas 30.8% in flushing drinkers and 30.4% in non-flushing drinkers considering Korean guideline immoderate drinking. Predictability of B group was 100% in flushing and non-flushing drinkers for both NIAAA guidelines and Korean guidelines.
Conclusions: It is desirable for physicians to use any combination of the three CBC indicators (increased MCV, decreased Hb, or decreased PLT) for predicting immoderate drinking.
Korean J Health Promot 2016;16(2):84-91

Keywords: Alcohol, Drinking, NIAAA