Effects of Alcohol on Blood Pressure Among Women: A Randomized Trial

Researchers examined the effects on blood pressure of the administration of two levels of alcohol in the form of red wine among 24 normotensive pre-menopausal women (all of whom had at baseline an average alcohol consumption of 2–3 standard drinks in a day), compared with changes in blood pressure when they were given dealcoholized red wine. Participants were divided into two groups based on reported average consumption. Those consuming < 200 g alcohol in a week were administered 100 ml/day of red wine on 4 days per week (an average of 46 g/week of alcohol, about 0.5 drinks per day), 200 ml/day of red wine daily (average of 146 g/week of alcohol, about 1.5–2 drinks/day), and then similar amounts of dealcoholized red wine consecutively over three 4-week periods. Participants who at baseline reported an average consumption of > 200 g alcohol in a week were administered 100 ml/day of red wine daily (an average of 73 g/week of alcohol, about one drink per day), 300 ml/day of red wine daily (218 g/week of alcohol, about 2–3 drinks/day), and then similar amounts of dealcoholized red wine consecutively over three 4-week periods.

• With higher alcohol intake, there were significant increases in 24-hour average blood pressure (+2.0±0.6 mmHg systolic, +1.2±0.4 mmHg diastolic) over the effects of dealcoholized wine.
• With lower intake, there were no significant differences (+0.4±0.6 mmHg systolic, -0.3±0.4 mmHg diastolic), compared with dealcoholized wine.

Comments:

The slight increase in blood pressure from higher levels of alcohol (versus no alcohol) supports previous research; the findings of no significant effect from lower levels of intake are consistent with either a slight increase or a slight decrease in blood pressure among people with the participants’ baseline level of alcohol consumption. It is not known how the effects of short-term interventions with alcohol may relate to the regular intake of alcohol for many years. Further, the fact that the study group was based on participants who averaged 2–3 drinks in a day prior to the intervention (yet were still normotensive) might suggest that their blood pressure was not “sensitive” to alcohol, and could limit the applicability of these results to the general public.

R. Curtis Ellison, MD

Reference:

Mori TA, Burke V, Beilin LJ, Puddey IB. Randomized controlled intervention of the effects of alcohol on blood pressure in premenopausal women. Hypertension. 2015;66(3):517–523.