If you’re drinking alcohol daily, even as little as one could drink a day, then you must stop now. Drinking alcohol regularly is associated with an increase in blood pressure, even in adults without hypertension, according to recent research.
An analysis of seven international research papers published in the American Heart Association Journal, Hypertension, found that people who drank even one alcoholic beverage per day, were more likely to have higher blood pressure when compared to non-drinkers.
Senior study author Dr. Marco Vinceti said in a news release, "We found no beneficial effects in adults who drank a low level of alcohol compared to those who did not drink alcohol." "We were somewhat surprised to see that consuming an already-low level of alcohol was also linked to higher blood pressure changes over time compared to no consumption—although far less than the blood pressure increase seen in heavy drinkers," he added.
The analysis was done on more than 19,000 adults in the United States, Korea, and Japan. Alcohol consumption was based on grams of alcohol consumed and not the number of drinks. This was carried out to prevent bias that could result from the varying amounts of alcohol contained in different beverages and the sizes of the "standard drinks."
For carrying out the research for more than five years, researchers examined that:
For those who drank an average of 12 grams of alcohol per day, systolic blood pressure increased by 1.25 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg). It also increased by 4.9 mm Hg in people who drank an average of 48 grams of alcohol per day. For those who drank 12 grams of alcohol per day, their diastolic blood pressure increased by 1.14 mm Hg. For people who consumed an average of 48 grams of alcohol per day, it increased by 3.1 mm Hg.
Reportedly, diastolic pressure measures the risk of developing heart disease in contrast to systolic blood pressure, which measures the force extended against artery walls while the heart beats. Systolic blood pressure was associated with males, which accounted for 65% of the study participants other than females.
High blood pressure is a common and potentially serious medical condition characterised by persistently elevated blood pressure levels in the arteries. Over time, untreated high blood pressure can lead to various health complications, such as heart disease, stroke, kidney damage, and vision problems. "Alcohol is certainly not the sole driver of increases in blood pressure; however, our findings confirm it contributes in a meaningful way," Vinceti added. "Limiting alcohol intake is advised, and avoiding it is even better."