Men with high blood pressure who have a drink or two per day may be at lower risk for heart attack than men who don’t drink at all, new research suggests.
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.
“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.