Fw: Alcohol-Women's Blood Pressure Studied

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Subject: Alcohol-Women's Blood Pressure Studied

Alcohol-Women's Blood Pressure StudiedBy LINDSEY TANNER.c The Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) - Women who have a few alcoholic drinks a week have an almost 15 percent lower chance of developing high blood pressure than teetotalers, new research shows. However, the study also found that consuming more than about 1 1/2 drinks daily increases the high blood pressure risk by 30 percent compared with nondrinkers. The increased risk was associated equally with wine, beer and hard liquor. The reduced risk among light drinkers appeared strongest with beer, though more research is needed to clarify whether the type of drink really makes a difference, said the authors, led by Dr. Ravi Thadhani of Harvard University Medical School. The findings are based on 70,891 people ages 25 to 42 who participated in the Nurses' Health Study, which tracked thousands of female nurses for a variety of studies. Smaller studies have found similar findings in older women, and other studies have suggested that light or moderate drinking may reduce men's and women's risk of heart disease. But experts caution that drinking has been linked to other health risks in women, including breast cancer and birth defects. Exercise and reducing salt intake are other ways to control blood pressure, and Thadhani said women should be wary of interpreting the findings to conclude that it's a good idea to start drinking. ``Whether a woman wants to initiate alcohol to reduce her risk'' of high blood pressure ``is certainly a personal decision,'' he said. The study is in Monday's issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. About 6 percent of participants - almost 4,200 - developed high blood pressure during eight years of follow-up. The reduced risk was found in women who drank an average of one-quarter to one-half a drink daily, or two to three drinks a week. One drink equaled about a 12-ounce bottle of beer, a 4-ounce glass of wine or a little less than a shot of liquor. How alcohol affects blood pressure is unclear, but one theory suggests that small amounts relax the blood vessels, easing blood flow, Thadhani said. A Chicago-area cardiologist, Dr. Ann Malloy, said the benefits linked with light drinking also may reflect a generally healthy lifestyle among people who choose to drink sensibly. But she added: ``You will never get anybody in medicine to say that you should drink for your health.'' The study also found that isolated binge drinking - downing more than 10 1/2 drinks over three or fewer days - did not increase the risk of high blood pressure. But Thadhani noted that binge drinkers face other serious risks including accidents, strokes and heart attacks. The National Institutes of Health funded the research. On the Net: Archives: http://archinte.ama-assn.org NIH: http://www.nlm.nih.gov