Drinking Pattern and Blood Pressure

Large amounts of alcohol are known to increase blood pressure. There is little evidence about the effect of binge drinking of alcohol on blood pressure, although this is the dominant style of alcohol drinking in several countries. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between binge drinking and blood pressure using daily heavy drinkers as a reference group. We examined 260 consecutive nonalcoholic 40- and 45-year-old men participating in a health screening. There were 37 teetotalers, 147 social drinkers, 62 weekend heavy drinkers attending the health screening 2 to 7 days after binge drinking, and 14 men who drank heavily every day. Group division was made using self-reported alcohol consumption and a structured alcohol questionnaire. Blood pressure was measured manually by a mercury manometer. BMDP statistical software was used in the statistical analysis of the material. The diastolic blood pressure of weekend heavy drinkers (mean intake during the weekend, 289 g) did not differ from that found in teetotalers but systolic blood pressure was slightly higher (5 mm Hg, P = .04). In contrast, daily heavy drinkers (mean intake during the weekend Friday to Saturday, 151 g) had significantly higher systolic (8 mm Hg, P = .04) and diastolic (6 mm Hg, P = .05) blood pressure values than teetotalers. We conclude that different drinking habits seem to have different effects on blood pressure, those of daily heavy drinking being more prominent than those of weekend heavy drinking.