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Regular intake of alcohol linked to elevated BP in premenopausal women
Alcohol consumption is associated with elevated BP in healthy premenopausal women to a similar degree as reported in previous studies with men, according to new findings.
The researchers wrote that prior research on the effect of alcohol on BP in premenopausal women has been inconsistent, so they investigated the dose-dependent effects of alcohol on 24-hour ambulatory BP.
They studied 24 women aged 25 to 49 years with a mean alcohol intake of 202 g/week, mean systolic BP of 110.2 mm Hg and mean diastolic BP of 68.9 mm Hg, who were randomly assigned to an unblended, three-period crossover study. The participants were subdivided according to whether they had a lower (< 200 g/week) or higher (> 200 g/week) level of typical alcohol intake.
Each evening during each of the three 4-week periods, the women consumed either higher-volume red wine (alcohol content for lower-level drinkers, 146 g/week; alcohol content for higher-level drinkers, 218 g/week), lower-volume red wine (alcohol content for lower-level drinkers, 42 g/week; alcohol content for higher-level drinkers, 73 g/week) or dealcoholized red wine.
The researchers monitored ambulatory BP and heart rate every 30 minutes for 24 hours upon completion of each study period and categorized results by asleep or awake status, discerned from participants’ diaries.
Trevor A. Mori, PhD, and colleagues found that compared with dealcoholized red wine, higher-volume red wine consumption increased 24-hour systolic BP by 2 mm Hg (P = .001) and increased 24-hour diastolic BP by 1.2 mm Hg (P = .028).
Mori, from the school of medicine and pharmacology at the University of Western Australia, and colleagues also found that higher-volume red wine consumption increased BP when compared with lower-volume consumption (systolic BP, 1.6 mm Hg; P = .014; diastolic BP, 1.4 mm Hg; P = .005).
The effects were more pronounced when the women were awake than when they were asleep, Mori and colleagues wrote.
They observed no significant differences in BP between those drinking lower-volume red wine and those drinking dealcoholized red wine. Heart rate also did not differ significantly according to alcohol consumption.
“Although small, the 2 mm Hg increase in BP at a population level would increase mortality from stroke by 10% and from [CAD] by 7%,” they wrote. “The consistent observation of reduced total and [CV] mortality with low-level alcohol intake in women is unlikely related to a reduction in BP.”
The lack of effect of lower-volume alcohol consumption on BP reduction in the present study indicates that the “J-shaped” association between alcohol consumption and BP observed in some previous studies may have been caused by unmeasured confounders, they wrote. – by Erik Swain
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.