Drinking too much alcohol can harm your health Learn the facts

Previous research suggests that acute alcohol consumption affects the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system by increasing plasma renin activity . The RAAS is responsible for maintaining the balance of fluid and electrolytes. An increase in plasma renin results in increased production of angiotensin I , which is converted to angiotensin II by angiotensin‐converting enzyme . The hormone AII is a potent vasoconstrictor that stimulates aldosterone and vasopressin secretion from the adrenal gland, promoting sodium and water retention . As a result, peripheral resistance and blood volume are increased, leading to elevated arterial blood.

Alcohol can affect your blood pressure, and heavy alcohol use can increase the risk of developing high blood pressure. Alcohol can also affect your blood pressure in other ways, such as by interacting with blood pressure medicines. Alcohol abuse comes in different forms, including occasional binge drinking, heavy drinking, and a full-fledged addiction.

What You Need To Know About Alcohol And High Blood Pressure

Excessive drinking disrupts the delicate balance of hormones and blood vessels that help maintain healthy blood pressure levels. If you or someone you love is experiencing the effects of excessive alcohol use and high blood pressure, hope and help are available. Remember, it’s never https://ecosoberhouse.com/ too late to take control of your health and get on the path to recovery. Hypertension can cause life-threatening health issues like heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Therefore, monitoring and managing your blood pressure is crucial to reducing these health risks.

We excluded articles if the citation seemed completely irrelevant or was identified as a review or observational study after the title and abstract were read. For remaining studies, we retrieved full‐text articles for further assessment. Any disagreements regarding inclusion or exclusion of studies were resolved by discussion between review authors.

Can Someone With High Blood Pressure Drink Alcohol?

SD of change in blood pressure measured in a different position (e.g. lying down) than that of the blood pressure data used. Other potential sources of bias (i.e. conflict of interest, funding source, registration of the study protocol). We included adult (≥ 18) participants of both sexes without any restriction on their health condition. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page. There are some pharmacological medications available to help lower alcohol-related hypertension. By submitting this form you agree to terms of use and privacy policy of the website.

how does alcohol affect your blood pressure

We conducted a standard Chi² test through Review Manager Software 5.3 to test for heterogeneity (Review Manager ). A P value of 0.1 or less was considered to show statistically significant heterogeneity. For the purposes of this review, if I² was greater than 50%, it was considered to show a substantial level of heterogeneity. Furthermore, we visually inspected the forest plot to check whether there were any non‐overlapping confidence intervals indicating heterogeneity. Last, we attempted to explore the reason for heterogeneity by looking for clinical and methodological differences between trials. We also calculated SD if 95% CI, P value, or t value was reported in the included studies, according to Chapter 7 of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions .

Vasopressin levels

Binge drinking means men consuming five or more drinks in about 2 hours and women consuming four or more drinks in about 2 hours. Heavy alcohol use means men consuming more than four drinks on any given day, or more than 14 drinks per week, and women how does alcohol affect your blood pressure consuming more than three drinks on any given day, or more than seven drinks per week. Alcohol prevents the body’s baroreceptors from detecting a need to stretch the blood vessels and increase their diameter, causing an increase in blood pressure.

Lifestyle is a major cause of high blood pressure, and alcohol is among those unhealthy lifestyle choices. Excessive drinking can lead to hypertension either directly or indirectly, and it is estimated that about 10% of high blood pressure² cases in the general population can be linked to alcohol. Changing your relationship with alcohol can be a life-changing experience, and lowering your blood pressure is just one of the many benefits. You don’t have to wait for health concerns to develop in order to get started, and you don’t have to do it alone.