Pressor effect of alcohol in hypertension

Abstract

The effect of alcohol on blood-pressure was studied in 16 men with hypertension who regularly drank up to 80 g of alcohol daily. Antihypertensive treatment was stopped 2 weeks before the men were admitted to hospital for a 7-day study. Blood pressure remained high in 8 patients who continued their regular alcohol consumption up to the fourth day after admission. In the next 4 days no alcohol was taken and diastolic and systolic blood pressures fell significantly. 8 other patients had no alcohol for the first 3 days after admission, but they resumed alcohol consumption from day 4 to 7. In these patients, blood pressure fell slightly after admission. Reintroduction of alcohol produced statistically significant increases in both systolic and diastolic pressures. This study demonstrated a pressor effect of alcohol in patients with hypertension and confirms the link between alcohol and blood-pressure reported in population studies. The mechanism of alcohol-induced hypertension is uncertain and is more likely to be due to an effect of alcohol rather than to the pressor response produced by alcohol withdrawal.