Limiting Alcohol to Manage High Blood Pressure American Heart Association

We tested the effect of cross‐over trials through sensitivity analysis by excluding them from the meta‐analysis to check if the effect estimate changed significantly. Keeping blood pressure within a healthy range can reduce the risk of adverse health outcomes. Many factors can increase someone’s risk for high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. However, researchers are still seeking to understand the full impact of certain risk factors. If a person thinks that they might be consuming alcohol at a rate that would classify as moderate drinking, heavy drinking, or binge drinking, they should consider cutting back to improve their overall health and well-being. Alcohol can lead to low blood sugar shortly after you drink it and for hours afterward.

Differences between protocol and review

Holiday heart syndrome can happen if you don’t typically drink alcohol, but then have a few at a holiday party or if you binge drink. This can cause you to develop an irregular heartbeat, called atrial fibrillation, which can increase your risk of stroke, heart attack and heart failure. In various biologic systems, oxidative stress can be measured or inferred by several biologic indexes.

Alcohol Consumption and CHD

• Researchers noted this effect varied depending on the type of tea a person drank.
• The BP-lowering effect of alcohol is due to a release of several substances, such as nitric oxide or NO, that cause blood vessels to widen, which lowers BP.
• It’s also how much you eat and the types of food you combine in meals and snacks.
• However, among studies designed to examine the influence of beverage type, no differences have been found in CV disease outcomes or biologic markers, such as HDL-c (Mukamal et al. 2003a; Volcik et al. 2008).
• Those who drink regularly and consume more than the lower risk guidelines are likely to be advised to cut down or stop drinking completely.

The findings suggest a protective effect of overexpression of IGF-1 in the transgenic animals (Zhang et al. 2014). Evidence of oxidative stress is found after short periods of alcohol consumption (2 to 18 weeks), at least in animal models. These data suggest that antioxidant defense mechanisms that attempt to protect the heart against oxidative damage appear to be initiated soon after drinking alcohol. Also, as noted below, data from other studies demonstrate the protective role of administered antioxidants, such as a synthetic compound that mimics the native superoxide dismutase enzyme, called a superoxide dismutase mimetic. This suggests a direct or indirect role for ethanol-mediated oxidative stress in the heart (Jiang et al. 2012; Tan et al. 2012). There is a very clear link between regularly drinking too much alcohol and having high blood pressure.

• It’s best to limit your drinking while taking medications like amlodipine to prevent possible dizziness and passing out.
• The sample size in the meta‐analysis for low‐dose comparison was not adequate to assess the effects of low doses of alcohol on BP and HR; however, we believe that the direction of the change in BP and HR was correct.
• Sara Tasnim (ST) and Chantel Tang (CT) drafted the protocol with help from JMW.

Gopane 2010 published data only

It’s best to limit your drinking while taking medications like amlodipine to prevent possible dizziness and passing out. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion notes that people between the ages of 18 and 39 years who are not at risk of hypertension should have their blood pressure checked by a doctor at least every 3–5 years. A how does alcohol affect blood pressure doctor may recommend a person with hypertension not to consume energy drinks. Research from 2019 found that drinking 32 ounces (oz) of energy drink in an hour could increase blood pressure. A 2022 study found that people with severe hypertension who drank 2 or more cups of coffee per day had a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

References to studies excluded from this review

Puddey 1985c published data only

• Bau 2005 and Bau 2011 mentioned only that investigators and volunteers were blinded to the content of the drink but did not mention the method of blinding used in these studies.
• A 2018 study, echoed by the World Health Organization (WHO), concluded that no amount of alcohol is safe for consumption, as alcohol leads to a loss of healthy life.
• Most of the evidence from this review is relevant to healthy males, as these trials included small numbers of women (126 females compared to 638 males).
• Data derived from systematic reviews and meta-analyses suggest that alcohol-dose and CV-health relationships differ for various CV conditions.
• Vascular wall oxidative stress also is a key mechanism in ethanol-induced HTN.