Abstract
Purpose: Restriction of alcohol intake is widely recommended in the treatment of hypertension.
However, we have observed that alcohol may have biphasic effects on blood pressure
in Japanese men with hypertension.
Methods: Hypertensive men (n = 34) who habitually drank alcohol were randomly assigned
to keep their drinking habits constant for 4 weeks, or to abstain (or reduce alcohol
intake to a maximum of 15 mL/day) for 4 weeks in a crossover design. Amount of alcohol
intake was recorded by each patient throughout the study. Office and 24-hour ambulatory
blood pressure were measured at the end of both periods.
Results: After alcohol restriction, mean (± SD) ethanol intake decreased from 66 ±
26 mL/day to 11 ± 10 mL/day. Office systolic blood pressure decreased slightly from
142 ± 12 mm Hg to 139 ± 11 mm Hg, and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly
from 95 ± 7 mm Hg to 93 ± 7 mm Hg in the low-alcohol period. Daytime systolic blood
pressure fell by 3 ± 9 mm Hg (P <0.05), but nighttime systolic blood pressure rose by 4 ± 9 mm Hg (P <0.05) with restriction of alcohol intake. Thus, average 24-hour blood pressure did
not change, although 24-hour heart rate and day-night difference in blood pressure
decreased significantly in the low-alcohol period.
Conclusion: In Asian men with hypertension, restriction of alcohol intake reduces
daytime blood pressure but not nighttime or 24-hour blood pressure.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 16, 2004
Accepted:
June 1,
1998
Received in revised form:
June 1,
1998
Received:
August 13,
1997
Footnotes
☆Supported by the Research Grant for Cardiovascular Diseases 5A-2 from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and a grant from Takeda Medical Research Foundation.
Identification
Copyright
© 1998 Excerpta Medica Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
