Alcohol and High Blood Pressure
Yes, providing further clarity to your doubts, alcohol whether taken in small amounts or large can lead to high blood pressure levels. For ages, studies have been refuting the other with one claiming that binge drinking can lead to high blood pressure levels, while the other claims that moderate drinking has cardiovascular benefits. As the arguments continue, it is important for you to know that too much of anything is harmful.
Alcohol Boosts Systolic Pressure
A new study which was published in the PLoS (Public Library of Science) Medicine reveals that people who drank more often or regularly, had a higher systolic pressure of 7 mmHg. Experts explain that normal blood pressure levels are below 120/80 mmHg and the successive increase in systolic and diastolic pressure is observed in the latter dangerous stages – pre-hypertension, stage 1 hypertension and then the stage 2 hypertension.
The study was led by Sarah Lewis and was mainly carried out in Japan because the ALDH2 (aldehyde dehydrogenase 2) gene variant was observed to be more common there. The study was used a sampled evidence for suggesting that men in common witnessed high blood pressure levels with high or moderate alcohol intake. Women did not form a part of this study as it was seen that they drank way to less to their male counterparts.
The study scrutinized about already five published studies and tried to associate blood pressure with a gene variant enzyme ALDH2. Researchers explained that this gene variant enzyme functioned in a way to remove alcohol from the body.
Results from the study revealed that those men who drank regularly or often were more likely to high blood pressure than men who drank less. This study therefore refutes yet again the stand maintained by some studies that moderate drinking leads to cardiovascular benefits. In addition, moderate drinking has also not reached any confirmed definition.
Moderate and Heavy Drinking Linked with Hypertension
British researchers also assert that genetic mutation has a lot to do with alcohol consumption and thereby affect blood pressure levels too. Instead, the researchers went one step ahead by emphasizing that people who drank regularly and heavily were more likely to be in any of the stages of hypertension.
The researchers established that people with a genetic mutation drank smaller amounts and hence reported lower blood pressure levels. At the same time, people without a genetic mutation, who drank at least 3 drinks a day, reported soaring blood pressure levels.
Source: Alcohol intake increases risk of high blood pressure; and more