Seven alcoholic drinks per week enough to increase odds of hypertension

On my good social engagement weeks I do this. I just need to know the exact interventions to mitigate that risk. No alcohol and no social engagements is not going to happen. But there are these positives of alcohol which your doctor will never approve of. 

Alcohol for these 12 reasons.

Seven alcoholic drinks per week enough to increase odds of hypertension

March 25, 2019

Amer Ismil Aladin

NEW ORLEANS — Moderate and heavy alcohol drinkers appear to have an increased prevalence of both stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension, according to a presentation at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.
In the study, moderate drinkers reported consuming at least seven drinks per week, and heavy drinkers at least 14 drinks per week.

“Epidemiological studies have shown the association between the source of alcohol consumption and hypertension,” Amer Ismil Aladin, MD, FACP, FAAFP, a cardiology fellow at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said during a web briefing. “However, we know that the association between a more moderate level of alcohol consumption and hypertension are less well-established, so far.”
Aladin said the purpose of the study was to examine the association between alcohol consumption and prevalence of elevated BP, stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension in a large, representative national cohort. The researchers analyzed 17,059 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (mean age, 46 years; 40% white; 53% women). Alcohol consumption was ascertained by questionnaire, and BP was measured by in-home interviews and a mobile examination center.
BP was categorized according to the 2017 ACC/American Heart Association hypertension guideline, with elevated BP defined as systolic BP 120 mm Hg to 129 mm Hg and diastolic BP less than 80 mm Hg; stage 1 hypertension defined as systolic BP 130 mm Hg to 139 mm Hg or diastolic BP 80 mm Hg to 89 mm Hg; and stage 2 hypertension defined as systolic BP 140 mm Hg or higher or diastolic BP 90 mm Hg or higher.
Participants were stratified into four groups: former or never drinkers, light drinkers (1 to 6 drinks per week), moderate drinkers (7 to 13 per week) and heavy drinkers (14 or more per week).

Moderate and heavy alcohol drinkers appear to have an increased prevalence of both stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension, according to a presentation at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.

Source: Adobe Stock

Compared with never and former drinkers, those who reported moderate consumption had 19% higher odds of elevated BP (OR = 1.19; 95% CI, 0.93-1.52) and heavy drinkers had 44% higher odds of elevated BP (OR = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.13-1.84), Aladin said.
For stage 1 hypertension, moderate drinkers had 53% higher odds compared with never and former drinkers (OR = 1.53; 95% CI, 1.23-1.9), and heavy drinkers had 69% higher odds (OR = 1.69; 95% CI, 1.36-2.11).
Elevated risk for stage 2 hypertension was also observed among moderate drinkers (OR = 2.02; 95% CI, 1.52-2.69) and heavy drinkers (OR = 2.41; 95% CI, 1.83-3.16) compared with never and former drinkers.