Heavy drinkers twice as likely
to
have high blood pressure
Chinese men who drink more than 30
alcoholic drinks a week have twice the risk of high blood pressure
than those who do not drink, say Tulane University researchers in
the April edition of the Journal of Hypertension.
“Our study is among the first to closely
examine the relationship between the number of alcoholic beverages a
person drinks and high blood pressure in a Chinese population. The
majority of previous research has been based on Western populations,
and data from other cardiovascular risk factors has suggested that
Western and Asian populations do not necessarily respond identically
to every risk factor” says epidemiologist Rachel Wildman, lead
author of the study, which reviewed data from men in China.
“Heart
disease is the leading killer of adults in China today. Limiting
alcohol intake has to be a part of efforts to prevent and manage
high blood pressure in China.”
Researchers drew data from 5,317 Chinese
men between the ages of 35 and 74 who participated in the InterASIA
study. The survey included detailed blood pressure measurements.
Participants also answered questions about the number of alcoholic
beverages they drank per week.
Nearly one in five Chinese men (17
percent) consumed more than 30 alcoholic drinks a week. Just over
half the men in the study reported consuming less than 12 drinks in
the past year.
According to Wildman, previous research
has indicated that there is a relationship between alcohol
consumption and high blood pressure and that reducing alcohol
consumption will lower blood pressure. This is the first study to
quantify the amount of alcoholic beverages related to marked
increases in high blood pressure in three subtypes of hypertension:
isolated systolic hypertension, systolic-diastolic hypertension and
isolated diastolic hypertension.
“Adult men in China who cut back by one
alcoholic drink per day could lower systolic blood pressure by 0.91
mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 0.49 mmHg. Clearly, addressing
alcohol consumption habits should be a part of any effort to control
hypertension,” Wildman says.