Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dutch research institute TNO Quality of Life and Wageningen University, the Netherlands, found that, among hypertensive men, moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a decreased risk of fatal and non-fatal heart attack.
Previous studies that looked at the relationship between hypertension and CVD mortality showed a link between moderate consumption and lower CVD mortality in individuals with hypertension. But no prior studies had examined whether moderate consumption was associated with non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), such as a heart attack or stroke, and none had repeatedly collected information on individual drinking habits. In a new, long-term study, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dutch research institute TNO Quality of Life and Wageningen University, the Netherlands, found that, among hypertensive men, moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a decreased risk of fatal and non-fatal heart attack. The researchers also found that rates of stroke and death from heart disease and all causes did not differ for hypertensive men who drank moderate amounts of alcohol and those who drank no alcohol.
“This was the first study to our knowledge that examined the risk of heart attacks among men with high blood pressure who drank moderately. Because excess alcohol intake clearly increases blood pressure, many men with hypertension are counseled not to drink, but our results suggest that may not be necessary if men drink safely and responsibly,” said lead author Joline Beulens, a PhD-fellow at TNO Quality of Life and Wageningen University and a visiting scholar at HSPH when the study began.
The study appears in the January 2, 2007, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.