Alcohol and the elderly; is there a blood pressure impact?

This study evaluated the relationship between alcohol consumption and ambulatory blood pressure among the elderly.

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is increasing in prevalence worldwide, significantly contributing to morbidity (having a disease condition) and mortality (death).

There is a general understanding that alcohol consumption affects blood pressure. It is estimated that at least 5%–7% of hypertension cases are secondary to heavy alcohol consumption. However, the association between the two has been studied mainly in young and middle aged populations ( the two main alcohol consuming  populations). Therefore, little is known about the relationship between alcohol and blood pressure in the elderly, who represent the population subgroup most likely to suffer from hypertension and it adverse effects (such as coronary artery disease and stroke).

This study examined 553 elderly participants (average age of 70 years) who were categorized into 4 groups according to their alcohol consuming habits.
1. Reference group: abstainers and infrequent drinkers (<1 drink/month)
2. Very light consumption: 1 drink/month to 1 drink/week
3. Light consumption: 2 drinks/week to 1 drink/day
4. moderate-to-heavy consumption: >1 drink/day

A standard drink was defined as 120ml of wine, 360ml of beer or 45 ml of liquor.

All subjects enrolled in the study underwent ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (a noninvasive method of obtaining blood pressure readings over 24 hours, while the patient is in their own environment, representing a true reflection of their blood pressure).Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (pressure when the heart is contracting) ≥140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure (pressure when the heart is relaxed) ≥90 mm Hg, or self-report of hypertension, or antihypertensive medication use. Following an average follow-up of 5.3 years results were analyzed.

Researchers concluded that diastolic blood pressure parameters were significantly higher in moderate-to-heavy drinkers compared to the reference group. The average ambulatory diastolic pressure in moderate to heavy drinkers was 75.1 mm Hg compared to 72.0 mm Hg in the reference group.

Systolic BP parameters were not significantly different across consumption groups.

Very light alcohol consumption was associated with lower daytime systolic blood pressure (average of 126.2 mm Hg) compared with no or very infrequent (occasional) alcohol consumption (average of 128.6 mm Hg).

This study concluded that among elderly moderate-to-heavy alcohol consumption is associated with increased blood pressure values and that very light consumption is associated with reduced blood pressure.

Most of this study participants had a high cardiovascular risk profile and were largely of Hispanic ethnicity. Therefore, these results might not entirely apply to other groups with different demographics and risk profiles.