Alcohol's Benefits Extend to Hypertension

NY Times ^ | March 23, 2004 | DAVID TULLER

[neverdem]

Men with high blood pressure who drink moderate amounts of alcohol are less likely than nondrinkers to die of cardiovascular ailments like heart attacks and strokes, researchers reported yesterday.

The study's findings suggest that moderate drinking not only has protective cardiovascular effects for the general population, as previous studies have shown, but that it is also protective for people who already have hypertension.

The results are significant, the researchers said, because heavy drinking can contribute to high blood pressure, and some doctors warn hypertensive patients to avoid alcohol altogether.

"There are plenty of people who seem to have the impression that if they have hypertension they shouldn't be drinking alcohol at all," said Dr. J. Michael Gaziano, the study's lead author, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and an associate professor at the Harvard Medical School. "But that isn't based on any data. It's only beyond two drinks a day that you offset the benefits with the negative effects."

One drink is generally defined as a 12-ounce glass of beer, a 4-ounce glass of wine or 1.5 ounces of spirits.

The study, published in the March 22 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, is believed to be the largest to examine the effects of drinking on the health of people with hypertension. The researchers analyzed a subset of data from the Physicians' Health Study, a database of information on the medical conditions and habits of close to 100,000 doctors.

Of 14,125 men in the study who reported histories of hypertension but had no records of heart attacks, strokes, cancer or liver disease, 579 died of cardiovascular causes within several years, the study reported.

The men who drank one to six drinks a week had a 39 percent decreased risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared with those who drank rarely or not at all. Men who drank daily had a 44 percent reduced risk.

So few of the men consumed more than two drinks a day that the researchers did not separate them from the other participants, Dr. Gaziano said.

Moderate amounts of alcohol are believed to protect against cardiovascular disease in part by increasing levels of high-density lipoprotein, also known as the good cholesterol.

The new study does not recommend that nondrinkers with hypertension should start drinking to reduce the risk of heart disease. But patients with hypertension who are able to maintain light to moderate alcohol intake have no compelling reason to change their custom and eliminate a possibly beneficial habit, the authors wrote.

Dr. Daniel W. Jones, the dean of the University of Mississippi Medical School and a spokesman for the American Heart Association, said the study would reassure people with hypertension who continued to drink moderately. But he expressed concern that the study findings might also encourage drinking among people who have more trouble limiting their alcohol intake.

The heart association, Dr. Jones said, prefers to promote exercise, healthy diets and other steps to prevent cardiovascular disease among people with or without hypertension.

[neverdem]

First I read that nicotine is good for you, and now this!

Where did you read that about nicotine?

[neverdem]

I should have initially commented that excess alcohol consumption is associated with the folowing:
1. dilated cardiomyopathy where the heart grows abnormally and leaves you at risk of heart failure, i.e. the pump doesn't work correctly and your lungs fill up with fluid making you abnormally short of breath.
2. Spasm of coronary arteries causing a different type of angina, probably worse in clogged arteries.
3. Holiday Heart Syndrome causing abnormal rythyms.

[#3Fan]

From that post I checked out your homepage and sure enough: "Currently I'm a board certified Osteopathic Family Physician." :^)

[Revolting cat!]

"folowing" "rythyms"

4. Bad Spelling Syndrome too!

[squidly]

Nicotine may prevent Parkinson's, Alzheimer's

[BroncosFan]

Maybe he was drinking. :)

[tubebender]

...don't sweat the small stuff.

[CurlyBill]

How can this be??? Alcohol is so EVIL!!! Alcohol has been demonized to the point where moderate drinking is considered by some to be alcoholism. I have a theory on all of this: Most of those who treat alcoholism and those who become experts at alcoholism are/were alcoholics themselves. These people cannot understand how anyone could be a moderate drinker because they couldn't moderate their drinking. Therefore, they believe, anyone who drinks alcohol on a semi-regular basis must be an alcoholic like they were. I'm not talking about drinking and driving, that is another issue altogether.

[rogue yam]

Hey, lighten up, Francis! I don't even know what any of that stuff is! Drinking is fun. Let's drink and have fun!

[A Jovial Cad]

Yes, and the "substance-abuse treatment industry" is a multi-billion dollar a year business, so it's in their interest to make out like modern day Carrie Nation crusades against the "Demon Rum."

[neverdem]

LOL

For some reason I always forget rhythm has two h's and not two y's.

[neverdem]

I think all prohibitions are futile, and I'm no prude. There is a renewed effort at alcohol prohibition. No doubt some of you might deride me as a loosertarian. But alcoholic pathology is more prevalent than that caused by illegal drugs. Alcohol killed my father. I'm not talking about drunken driving.

Among the other things excess alcohol can screw up besides the liver are central and peripheral nervous system, stomach, pancreas and bone marrow. These studies about the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption are what many people consider very light drinking.

[Dan from Michigan]

Rolling Rock....bwhahahahah.

A bottle of that froze in my fridge during my dorm years.

[socal_parrot]

Cool!!! I won't die of a stroke.


Now, if I can just jump start my liver.

[Dan from Michigan]

I'm sorry, I CANNOT drink Guinness in moderation.

If you make it home, it's moderation, right? :)

[rogue yam]

Among the other things excess alcohol can screw up besides the liver are central and peripheral nervous system, stomach, pancreas and bone marrow. These studies about the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption are what many people consider very light drinking.

Booorrrringggg!

[#3Fan]

I think all prohibitions are futile, and I'm no prude. There is a renewed effort at alcohol prohibition. No doubt some of you might deride me as a loosertarian. But alcoholic pathology is more prevalent than that caused by illegal drugs. Alcohol killed my father. I'm not talking about drunken driving. Among the other things excess alcohol can screw up besides the liver are central and peripheral nervous system, stomach, pancreas and bone marrow. These studies about the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption are what many people consider very light drinking.

I would disagree in that it seems that a lot dope smokers become lazy and shabby. I can get along with moderate drinkers like myself but I have a harder time getting along with dope smokers. Drugs seem to take away their drive and they irritate me with their "don't give a crap" attitude. I think that is more dangerous than a bad pancreas here and there.

[tubebender]

Here is something to worry about...


Subject: Facts about doctors


a. The number of physicians in the US is 700,000.
b. Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year is 120,000.
c. Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171 (US Dept. of Health &
Human Services).

Then think about this:
a. The number of gun owners in the US is 80,000,000.
b. The number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups) is 1,500.
c. The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .0000188.

Statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST
EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.

Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets out of hand.

PS. As a public health measure, we have withheld the statistics on
lawyers for fear that the shock could cause people to seek medical attention.

[neverdem]

My father had a massive hemorrhagic stroke, most likely from very heavy drinking. He had to be institutionalized for 13 years because he tried to go out a second story window, before a second fatal stroke. He had no perception of time, thinking it was 40 years earlier.

[Nick Danger]

I heard that dead vegetarians have green bones, don't know if it's true..

My practice is to dispose of all dead vegetarians promptly. Can't say as I've ever seen their bones either.

Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!