Study didn't find same effect in young women or teens of either sex
WebMD News from HealthDay
By Tara Haelle
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Oct. 21, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Binge drinking among young adult men may lead to increased blood pressure, according to a new study.
But binge drinking didn't cause a similar rise in blood pressure for young adult women or for teenagers, according to the study. In fact, when young adult women drank lightly or moderately, their risk of high blood pressure was cut in half, the study found.
"This finding parallels studies in older adult men and women," said lead researcher Dr. Sarah Twichell, a clinical fellow in pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital. In older adult men, she said, the more alcohol they consume, the more their risk of high blood pressure (hypertension) increases.
Although this study found a connection between heavy alcohol consumption and an increased risk of high blood pressure in young adults, the study did not prove alcohol was the direct cause of higher blood pressure.
For a long time, researchers have been aware of a link between heavy alcohol consumption and high blood pressure, said Dr. Guy Mayeda, a cardiologist at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, but this study reveals how early it can start.
"The thought is that in your 20s, you're invincible and immune to all these middle-aged diseases like heart disease and hypertension, but this study shows that young adult males who binge drink have higher instances of blood pressure," Mayeda said.
Binge drinking is defined as having more than five drinks in one sitting for males and more than four in one sitting for females, Twichell said.
Twichell's team analyzed information from a 2010 survey of approximately 8,600 participants. The study volunteers were initially recruited in 1996, when the participants were 8 to 14 years old, according to the study. They completed detailed surveys every one to two years for the study. In 2010, the participants were 22 to 28 years old.
The researchers found young adult men were 70 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure if they binge drank frequently in the previous year. The researchers adjusted the data to account for weight, age, race and smoking, according to Twichell.
Meanwhile, young adult women with light or moderate alcohol use were between 45 and 62 percent less likely to have high blood pressure, according to the study.
The reason drinking has variable effects on blood pressure has to do with the way alcohol affects the blood vessels, Mayeda said.
"Usually when you first drink, your blood pressure drops, but when you're binge drinking, when you stop the binge, there's a withdrawal," he said. "For people going through alcohol withdrawal, their heart rate goes up high and their blood pressure goes up high."
Alcohol is a vasodilator, which means it dilates, or enlarges the blood vessels initially, allowing for greater blood flow, he said.
source : Binge Drinking May Boost Blood Pressure in Young Men
