Binge drinking puts men at serious risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack
According to a new study out of Korea, men with high blood pressure and who drink up to 12 drinks consecutively are putting themselves at serious risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack.
The researchers determined that for men whose blood pressure was at least 168/100, the chance of dying from cardiovascular disease was four times higher than non-drinkers if they had drank six drinks on one occasion. Drinking up to 12 drinks consecutively raised their risk of dying from stroke or heart attack up to 12-fold.
When the data was compared with men with normal blood pressure, those with high blood pressure (hypertension) who on occasion drank more than six drinks in one sitting have nearly double the risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack, according to the study, which followed 6,100 South Koreans age 55 and up for two decades.
The risk was certainly smaller for nondrinkers without hypertension at 0.2% per year in the study, the risk jumped to a “nontrivial” 2.7% per year for these heavy binge drinkers with grade 3 hypertension, commented Brian Silver, MD, of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The research does not cover women because less than 1% of women indulged in binge drinking. There have not been many studies that analyzed the effects of binge drinking on cardiovascular conditions. The results of the study still need to be supported to acknowledge if the results can be generalized.
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