Renaud S, Gueguen R
INSERM (Institut National pour la Santé et al Recherche Médicale), Unit 330, Université Bordeaux 2, France.
Novartis Found Symp. 1998;216:208-17; discussion 217-22, 152-8. doi: 10.1002/9780470515549.ch13.
Despite a high level of risk factors such as cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension and a high intake of saturated fat, French males display the lowest mortality rate from ischaemic heart disease and cardiovascular diseases in Western industrialized nations (36% lower than the USA and 39% lower than the UK). By contrast, mortality from all causes is only 8% lower than in the USA and 6% than in the UK, owing to a high level of cancer and violent deaths. In a recent study of 34,000 middle-aged men from Eastern France with a follow-up of 12 years we have observed that for 48 g of alcohol (mostly wine) per day as the mean intake, mortality from cardiovascular diseases was lower by 30%, all-cause mortality was reduced by 20%, but mortality by cancer and violent death was increased compared with abstainers. Thus the so-called 'French Paradox' (a low mortality rate specifically from cardiovascular diseases) may be due mainly to the regular consumption of wine.
尽管存在诸如胆固醇、糖尿病、高血压以及饱和脂肪摄入量高等多种风险因素，但法国男性在西方工业化国家中缺血性心脏病和心血管疾病的死亡率却是最低的（比美国低36%，比英国低39%）。相比之下，由于癌症和暴力死亡发生率较高，法国的全因死亡率仅比美国低8%，比英国低6%。在最近一项对法国东部34000名中年男性进行的为期12年随访的研究中，我们观察到，平均每日摄入48克酒精（主要是葡萄酒）时，与戒酒者相比，心血管疾病死亡率降低了30%，全因死亡率降低了20%，但癌症和暴力死亡的死亡率有所上升。因此，所谓的“法国悖论”（特别是心血管疾病的低死亡率）可能主要归因于葡萄酒的经常饮用。
