Autor: Vicente Cedeño

There is a significant amount of data to show that drinking large quantities of alcohol, whether it is a spirits, beer, or wine, can increase the risk of developing hypertension. Sara Tasnim (ST) and Chantel Tang (CT) drafted the protocol with help from JMW. Both ST and CT independently assessed studies for inclusion or exclusion and assessed the risk of bias of all included studies. We created three SoF tables to show the certainty of evidence and the summary of effects on outcomes of interest https://marylanddigest.com/top-5-advantages-of-staying-in-a-sober-living-house/ (SBP, DBP, and HR) for high (Table 1), medium (Table 2), and low doses (Table 3) of alcohol. We identified Stott 1987 and Barden 2013 from Analysis 3.1 and Analysis 3.2 as having a considerably lower standard error (SE) of the mean difference (MD) compared to the other included studies. 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.

Alcohol and Heart Failure

We conducted meta‐analysis for the three dose groups (low dose, medium dose, and high dose of alcohol) separately. We considered statistical, clinical, and methodological heterogeneity between study populations and proceeded with the meta‐analysis if only we considered interventions, comparisons, and outcome measures similar enough to pool. When trials compared more than one dose of alcohol, we handled each comparison separately. Because all of our outcomes of interest provided continuous data, we used the inverse variance approach and a fixed‐effect model to combine effect sizes across studies.

How does alcohol affect my heart?

After removal of 16 duplicates and subsequent manual screening of 1210 records by title and abstract, 1183 records were excluded and 27 records remained. We analysed the full text of these 27 articles, excluding 19 for different reasons in a first stage. We contacted the authors responsible for the remaining seven studies (eight articles), asking them for additional information. Based on the Sober House obtained information, five of these studies were also subsequently excluded for different reasons and one study remained as awaiting classification. As a result, only one study meeting inclusion criteria was finally identified (Figure 1). We investigated and reported for each included study the reasons, numbers and characteristics of dropouts, exclusions from the analysis, or missing data.

Chang 2011 published data only

That’s partly why people who drink may find that although they’re consuming the same amount they always have, they feel the effects more quickly or strongly — that’s especially true for older women, according to the National Institute on Aging. A slower metabolism also plays a role, as do medications — prescription, over-the-counter, even herbal remedies — that are common among older people. “As you grow older, health problems or prescribed medicines may require that you drink less alcohol or avoid it completely,” the Institute says. In PATHS 1998, treatment assignments were randomly determined at the start of the study using a fixed randomisation scheme with uniform allocation, variable block size and stratification by clinic. Accordingly, we judged PATHS 1998 as having low risk of bias for the ‘random sequence generation’ and ‘allocation concealment’ domains. “This complex interplay leads to elevated blood pressure and subsequent hypertension,” Ramnauth said.

Brainin 2016 published data only

On the other hand, some guidelines on hypertension management make specific recommendations on limits to alcohol consumption (Hypertension Canada 2018). Therefore, it is considered of great interest to assess the effects of interventions to reduce alcohol intake in terms of blood pressure changes in hypertensive people. The magnitude and direction of the effects of alcohol on blood pressure depend on the time after alcohol consumption. Moderate‐certainty evidence shows that acute consumption of medium to high doses of alcohol decreases blood pressure within the first six hours and for up to 12 hours after alcohol consumption.

AuYeung 2013 published data only

A research review from 2022 analyzed studies that gave participants with hypertension 70–250 milliliters (mL) of beetroot juice per day for 3–60 days. Discuss your alcohol intake with your healthcare provider and make lifestyle changes as recommended. Red wine contains an antioxidant called resveratrol, which some studies have shown reduces cholesterol and lowers blood pressure. For the planned subgroup analysis based on sex, no studies reported male and female participant data separately.

• Just as some drinks can help lower blood pressure, several others may actually increase blood pressure levels.
• In hospital, your medications are adjusted to control your blood pressure, but you aren’t drinking alcohol at that time.
• Even though these studies reported that participants were randomised to receive alcohol or placebo, the method of randomisation was not mentioned.
• Experts have known for a while that heavy drinking — meaning eight or more drinks per week for women and 15-plus per week for men — raises your risk for high blood pressure (a.k.a. hypertension).
• Studies have shown a rise in breast cancer risk in women under 50 from drinking alcohol.
• Weight loss is one of the most effective lifestyle changes for controlling blood pressure.

• Other researchers have used genetic approaches (i.e., transgenic animals) to prevent ethanol-induced oxidative stress.
• There is certainly no reason to start drinking alcohol if you don’t already.
• Although eligible studies included East Asian, Latino, and Caucasian populations, they lacked African, South Asian, and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander representation.
• As noted in the text, the exact amount and duration of alcohol consumption that results in ACM in human beings varies.