According to the published protocol, we intended to include only double‐blind RCTs in this review. Because higher doses of alcohol exert specific pharmacological effects on drinkers, we had a few double‐blind RCTs alcohol and hypertension after the first screening. Considering the difficulty of masking in these types of studies, we decided to also include single‐blind and open‐label studies in the review. We took several steps to minimise the risk of selection bias to identify eligible studies for inclusion in the review. We also checked the lists of references in the included studies and articles that cited the included studies in Google Scholar to identify relevant articles. Furthermore, we contacted authors of included studies to obtain all relevant data when information was insufficient or missing.
Most studies gave participants 15 to 30 minutes Halfway house to finish their drinks, started measuring outcomes sometime after that, and continued taking measurements for a certain period, but there were some exceptions. Chen 1986 did not report consumption duration nor timing of measurement of BP and HR. Dai 2002 gave participants five minutes to consume high doses of alcohol and measured outcomes immediately. On the other hand, Fantin 2016 allowed participants to continue drinking during the period of outcome measurement. These differences in alcohol consumption duration and in outcome measurement times probably contributed to the wide variation in blood pressure in these studies and affected overall results of the meta‐analysis. On the other hand, we have also considered the implications of the present findings in the wider context of general populations other than workers involved in the health-screening program.
While moderate drinking may not have an immediate or dramatic effect, chronic or excessive alcohol use is a well-established risk factor for hypertension. Moderate drinking, as defined by the American Heart Association, is drinking up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men. A “drink” typically refers to 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits like vodka or whiskey. One of the primary ways alcohol influences blood pressure is by causing your arteries to constrict or narrow. When your arteries tighten, your heart has to work harder to pump blood through them. Over time, this added strain can lead to hypertension, or chronically high blood pressure, a condition that significantly increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other health problems.
Ueshima 1987a published data only
The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association’s overall financial information are available here. Yes, heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide despite there being many ways to avoid hypertension and maintain a healthy blood pressure, according to the report.
Yang 2017 published data only
Number of cases, person-years of observation and incidence rate for hypertension grouped according to age. Alcohol disrupts your natural sleep cycles and prevents you from reaching the deep, restorative stages of sleep that your cardiovascular system needs. One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. This system controls how much sodium and water your kidneys retain, and alcohol disrupts this delicate balance.
Agewall 2000 published data only
- Finding that link could prove to be vitally important as public health measures aimed at alcohol abuse could impact hypertension rates, and subsequently cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
- “Those who drink heavily are three times as likely to be hypertensive” as those who abstain.
- This effect can be more pronounced the morning after, when the body is in withdrawal from alcohol, potentially accompanied by anxiety, sweating, and restlessness.
- The statements and conclusions in each manuscript are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association’s policy or position.
Participants in those studies consumed alcohol regularly during the study period, whereas in our systematic review, we included only studies in which participants consumed alcohol for a short period. Based on nine studies, McFadden 2005 reported that the mean increase in SBP was 2.7 mmHg and in DBP was 1.4 mmHg. Only three of these studies measured BP at various time points and found that alcohol has a hypotensive effect lasting up to five hours after alcohol consumption and a hypertensive effect 20 hours after alcohol consumption that lasts until the next day. The inclusion of non‐randomised studies in McFadden 2005, which are known to be at higher risk of bias, is likely the reason for the discrepancy in the magnitude of BP effects.
Furthermore, based on the results of this study, it is considered that more optimal health guidance can be given if the subject can be motivated to moderate alcohol consumption and quit smoking by adding this kind of objective explanation. Of course, it is important to implement optimal health-care management for workers at the onset of hypertension, and more importantly to prevent the onset of hypertension from the perspective of preventive medicine. Alcohol and cigarettes are particular discretionary lifestyle items that are apt to be enjoyed by workers at a manufacturing company, and alcohol and smoking indulgence may be increasing in this population. Meanwhile, it is important to implement health guidance about alcohol and smoking, not only to prevent the onset of hypertension but also about other various lifestyle-related diseases, including cancers 28. Medical guidelines define moderate drinking as up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men.
- Research suggests a positive dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption and the onset of hypertension.
- Thus, the current knowledge supports the view that sustained alcohol consumption, above 30 g per day, significantly, and dose-dependently, increases the risk of hypertension 32.
- This review did not find any eligible RCTs that reported the effects of alcohol on women separately.
As previously stated, the US 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines recommend avoidance of alcohol consumption 7, and this is because no clear evidence exists to currently support possible benefits of mild to moderate alcohol consumption on cardiovascular health. Nonetheless, the hypothesis of a J-shaped relationship between alcohol intake and cardiovascular outcomes was proposed, and this opened a currently unsolved question on the definition of the amount of alcohol per week that might be considered safe or even beneficial. The definition of this threshold would be very difficult to set and, as previously stated, scientific societies in the cardiovascular field recommend no more than two alcohol units/day for men and one unit/day for women. Hypertension can be genetic or may be due to environmental factors such as poor diet, obesity, tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, and sedentary lifestyle (Weber 2014; WHO 2013). A population‐based study showed that the incidence of hypertension is higher in African descendants (36%) than in Caucasians (21%) (Willey 2014). Proper management of hypertension can lead to reduction in cardiovascular complications and mortality (Kostis 1997; SHEP 1991; Staessen 1999).
The remaining seven studies reported the method of randomisation used, hence we classified them as having low risk of bias. It is important to note that information regarding to the method of randomisation used in Foppa 2002 and Rosito 1999 was provided by the study author via email. It is recommended that there should be at least 10 studies reporting each of the subgroups in question (Deeks 2011). Among the 34 included studies, only four studies included hypertensive participants. For the planned subgroup analysis based on sex, no study reported male and female participant data separately. For multi‐arm trials, if a study reported more than one intervention arm, we identified the relevant intervention arm and included that in the review.
Stream 2014 published data only
Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is the psychoactive ingredient in beverages like beer, wine, and spirits. When consumed, ethanol is quickly absorbed in the stomach and small intestine, entering the bloodstream and traveling to organs, including the brain. There, it exerts a depressant effect, influencing mood, motor skills, and cognition. Meanwhile, it also impacts the body’s regulatory systems for vascular tone, fluid balance, and hormone release. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore how alcohol affects blood pressure, the short- and long-term mechanisms involved, why moderation is key, recommendations from health authorities, and practical tips to minimize risks.
- Alcoholic beverages are common components of diets worldwide and understanding their effects on humans’ health is crucial.
- A greater decrease in heart rate in ethanol treated rats compared with control rats during β-adrenoreceptor blockade with propranolol indicates that the ethanol treated rats had an increased sympathetic activity.
- Agewall 2000 measured blood pressure upon participants’ arrival and did not measure blood pressure after the intervention.
- Some intervention studies and cumulative analyses support the evidence of a benefit of the reduction/withdrawal of alcohol consumption on BP and cardiovascular outcomes.
Medium‐dose alcohol decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP) by 5.6 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) by 4 mmHg within the first six hours of consumption. Although the hypotensive effect of alcohol seemed to last up to 12 hours after drinking alcohol, and the effect was lost after 13 hours, the result was based on only four trials reporting intermediate (7 to 12 hours) and late (after 13 hours) effects of alcohol on BP. We planned on conducting sensitivity analyses on studies based on their level of risk of bias (high‐risk studies versus low‐risk studies). Most of the included studies had similar risk of bias across all domains except for performance bias and detection bias, for which risk arises from blinding of participants, personnel, and outcome assessors. So, we decided to conduct a sensitivity analysis of the included studies based on the blinding condition (Table 7). We observed a greater reduction in blood pressure after a moderate dose of alcohol consumption for the unblinded studies, which was probably due to the presence of a heterogeneous population.
Fazio 2001 published data only
If you already have high blood pressure, NSAIDs can prevent several common meds such as ACE inhibitors and diuretics from doing their job. Individuals who drink alcohol in excess can help improve their overall health by stopping drinking. Nearly half (46.7%) of adults in the U.S. have higher-than-normal blood pressure, referring to either stage 1 or stage 2 hypertension. There are few strategies for the control, prevention and treatment of alcohol-induced hypertension as shown in Figure 2.
© All Rights Reserved