Use of caffeine-based products and tobacco in relation to the consumption of alcohol. An examination of putative relationships in a group of alcoholics in Israel.

The relations between the intake of alcohol and that of caffeinated beverages, as well as cigarette smoking, was examined in a group of chronic alcoholics in an Israeli treatment center. When data from the total sample was analyzed, relationships between alcohol and caffeinated beverages intake and between alcohol intake and smoking were observed. Caffeine use and smoking were also related. In addition, a subgroup of subjects with a family history of alcoholism revealed correlations between alcohol and caffeine consumption, between alcohol intake and smoking, as well as caffeine use and smoking. Subjects without a family history of alcoholism also showed relationships between alcohol and caffeine use and smoking. However, coffee intake and tobacco use was not related in this subgroup. The relevance of the findings to previous reports concerning alcohol drinking and smoking as well as the intake of coffee appear to be consistent with a notion of interaction between these respective behaviors occurring at a behavioral level rather than a genetic one.