Why the new blood pressure guidelines say to avoid alcohol

Also, no clear dropout algorithm was published for this trial, leading to concerns related to attrition bias. Moreover, alcohol consumption affects the hormones that regulate blood pressure. When you drink, alcohol increases blood levels of the hormone renin, causing blood vessels to constrict and narrow in diameter (source). As a result, your blood pressure rises and puts added strain on your heart. Additionally, for some people, drinking alcohol may coincide with dehydration or not eating enough food — factors that can also lead to low blood pressure. Someone who drinks heavily on an empty stomach may experience a drop in blood pressure due to dehydration and reduced blood volume.

Health Benefits of Quitting Drinking

Authors and public or private institutions are kindly called to collaborate sharing the results of their studies for the benefit of patients. Because of study requirements, PATHS 1998 was not blinded to participants or interventionists. However, specific care was taken to maintain blinding to intervention assignments among data collectors. Consequently, we considered the study had a high risk of performance bias for the majority of primary outcomes Oxford House (excluding overall mortality), but low risk of detection bias for all of them.

Why the new blood pressure guidelines say to avoid alcohol

• “Those who drink heavily are three times as likely to be hypertensive” as those who abstain.
• Assuming that the low SEs of MDs reported in Stott 1987 and Barden 2013 are errors and are not reliable, we replaced these measures with the average SE of MD from the rest of the included studies.
• Several studies have assessed specifically the relationship between alcohol intake and hypertension, but data from randomised controlled trials are clearly insufficient.
• Acute alcohol consumption mimics the pattern of social drinking, and evidence indicates that even one glass of an alcoholic drink can increase heart rate.
• The Information Specialist modelled subject strategies for databases on the search strategy designed for MEDLINE.

This increases the sensitivity of the blood vessels to compounds that constrict them. When blood pressure decreases, these receptors help minimize how much the blood vessels stretch to increase blood pressure. Similarly, when blood pressure increases, these receptors increase the stretching of the blood vessel walls in order to decrease blood pressure. Having higher levels of catecholamines causes the body to excrete less fluid through urine.

Parker 1990 published data only

We interpreted only funnel plots alcohol lower blood pressure that were constructed based on studies reporting outcomes under medium dose and high dose of alcohol versus placebo comparisons. Different types of alcoholic beverages including red wine, white wine, beer, and vodka were used among 32 studies. The dose of alcohol ranged between 0.35 mg/kg and 1.3 g/kg, and alcohol was consumed over five minutes and over one hour and 30 minutes. It is important to note that the dose of alcohol was comparatively higher (≥ 60 g or ≥ 1 g/kg) in nine studies (Bau 2005; Buckman 2015; Hering 2011; Narkiewicz 2000; Rosito 1999; Rossinen 1997; Stott 1987; Van De Borne 1997; Zeichner 1985). Alcohol can affect drinkers differently based on their age, sex, ethnicity, family history, and liver condition (Cederbaum 2012; Chen 1999; Gentry 2000; Thomasson 1995). Previous studies reported that women are affected more than men after drinking the same amount of alcohol because of their lower body weight and higher body fat.

• It is important to note that 2 out of 19 studies were single‐blinded (Agewall 2000; Karatzi 2013).
• Therefore, despite the efforts to maintain blindness to blood pressure and laboratory data among participants and interventionists, this trial was assessed as having high risk of performance bias.
• With the full spectrum of cardiovascular expertise within reach, our specialists offer hope to people with heart disease.
• This review will be useful for social and regular drinkers to appreciate the risks of low blood pressure within the first 12 hours after drinking.

• Six authors (MTA, NA, JE, JG, JRR and LCS) independently screened titles and abstracts yielded by the search to assess whether they met the criteria for inclusion.
• Chronic alcohol intake can inappropriately activate the RAS, leading to the constriction of blood vessels and retention of sodium and water, which directly increases blood pressure.
• Most of the included studies had similar risk of bias across all domains except for performance bias and detection bias, for which risk arises from blinding of participants, personnel, and outcome assessors.
• As for the applicability of the available evidence, the full body of data comes from a single study.
• So when you stay away from alcohol, the number on your scale may well start moving down.

“I do think we need to communicate clearly to the public that alcohol is not beneficial—that a little bit of alcohol is probably not harmful, but don’t expect benefits,” Dr. Nissen explains. As social gatherings and holiday celebrations frequently feature festive beverages, it can be challenging to avoid drinking entirely. To help navigate these occasions, we’ve sought advice from expert doctors on which types of alcohol you should avoid if you’re trying to protect your heart health. Metabolism and ClearanceMost alcohol is processed by the liver, where enzymes (e.g., alcohol dehydrogenase) break it down into acetaldehyde and then acetate. The average person’s body can generally handle about one standard drink per hour. Exceeding that rate can lead to rising blood alcohol concentrations, which can contribute to short-term physiological changes and potential harm if done repeatedly over time.

Estevez 1995 published data only

Large RCTs https://ecosoberhouse.com/ including both hypertensive and normotensive participants with various ethnic backgrounds are required to understand the effects of alcohol on blood pressure and heart rate based on ethnicity and the presence of hypertension. More RCTs are needed to study the effects of low‐dose alcohol to better delineate the dose‐response effects of alcohol on BP and heart rate. RCTs with measurements more than 24 hours after alcohol consumption are needed to see how long the effect of high‐dose acute alcohol consumption lasts. Similarly, we found no difference in overall mortality, cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular events. No data on serious adverse events or quality of life were available for assessment. We classified nine studies as having high risk of bias (Agewall 2000; Bau 2011; Buckman 2015; Dumont 2010; Fazio 2004; Karatzi 2013; Maufrais 2017; Rossinen 1997; Van De Borne 1997).