Alcohol and Blood Pressure: The Impact on Cardiovascular Health – Findings from a Landmark Study in Hypertension

2023-08-09 06:05:00

Regular alcohol consumption increases blood pressure over the years. This phenomenon is observed even when people drink only one glass a day as well as in individuals who do not suffer from hypertension. Here is the warning of the American Heart Association following the publication of a study conducted by Italian and American researchers in its journal Hypertension July 31, 2023.

Evidence of the effect of alcohol on blood pressure

The study, which looked at data from several studies in the United States, Korea and Japan, found that people who drank regularly – even small amounts of alcohol – had increased blood pressure compared to those who did not drink at all.

In detail, the results show that systolic blood pressure increases by 1.25 mm Hg in people who consumed an average of 12 grams of alcohol per day and by 4.9 mm Hg in those who drank an average of 48 grams of alcohol. alcohol per day.

For comparison, 10 grams of alcohol represents 25 cl of beer at 5° or 12.5 cl of wine at 10° to 12° or 3 cl of distilled alcohol at 40° (whiskey, anisette, gin).

In addition, diastolic blood pressure rises by 1.14 mm Hg in “light drinkers” (12 grams of alcohol per day), and by 3.1 mm Hg in those who consume 4 times more. The latter association was mainly observed in men.

“We found no beneficial effects in adults who drank low levels of alcohol compared to those who drank no alcohol,” said the lead author of the study, Dr. Marco Vinceti in a communiqué. “We were somewhat surprised to see that drinking an already low level of alcohol was also linked to greater changes in blood pressure over time compared to no drinking – although much less than the increase in blood pressure observed in heavy drinkers”he added.

Heart health: researchers advise limiting alcohol

Faced with these results, the researchers called for limiting alcohol consumption to maintain healthy blood pressure. Since high blood pressure is a major and preventable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack or stroke, it is essential to raise awareness of the harmful effect of alcohol on blood pressure and to promote healthy lifestyle choices by beverage material.

“Alcohol is certainly not the only driver of increased blood pressure. However, our results confirm that it contributes significantly. It is advisable to limit the consumption of alcohol and to avoid it, it is even better”concluded Dr. Vinceti.

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