WINSTON-SALEM: New US research has found that moderate alcohol consumption, defined as seven to 13 drinks per week, may significantly increase the risk of developing high blood pressure.
Carried out by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina, the new study looked at data on 17,059 US adults who had enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) between 1988 and 1994.
The decades-long study is led by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and includes data representative of the US population.
The participants were asked to self-report their drinking behaviour on several questionnaires before being split into three groups: those who never drank alcohol, those who had seven to 13 drinks per week (moderate drinkers) and those who had 14 or more drinks per week (heavy drinkers).
Participants’ blood pressure was also recorded, with the researchers assessing hypertension (high blood pressure) using the 2017 ACC/AHA high blood pressure guideline.
This guideline defines Stage 1 hypertension as having systolic blood pressure between 130-139 or diastolic pressure between 80-89, and Stage 2 hypertension as having systolic pressure above 140 or diastolic pressure above 90.
The findings, due to be presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 68th Annual Scientific Session, showed that moderate drinkers were 53% more likely to have stage 1 hypertension and twice as likely to have stage 2 hypertension compared with those who never drank.
The risk was even higher for heavy drinkers, with this group 69% more likely to have stage 1 hypertension and 2.4 times as likely to have stage 2 hypertension compared to never-drinkers.
The findings also held true even after the researchers had taken into account other factors linked to high blood pressure including age, sex, race, income and cardiovascular risk.
However, the results contrast with those produced by previous studies, which have found that moderate drinking is linked to a lower risk of some forms of heart disease.
As hypertension is a key risk factor for heart attack and stroke, the new findings question whether moderate alcohol consumption is indeed beneficial for heart health.
“I think this will be a turning point for clinical practice, as well as for future research, education and public health policy regarding alcohol consumption,” said the study’s lead author Amer Aladin.
“It’s the first study showing that both heavy and moderate alcohol consumption can increase hypertension.”
The researchers suggested that alcohol could affect blood pressure as it increases appetite and so can lead to drinkers taking in more calories.
Alcohol itself is also high in calories.
Alternatively, alcohol’s ability to affect the brain and liver could also contribute to increases in blood pressure.