Moderate alcohol consumption is acceptable for men with high blood pressure, according to researchers.
Sufferers can drink one or two alcoholic beverages each day without increasing their risk of heart attack or stroke, researchers concluded after analysing data obtained from 11,711 men with high blood pressure, otherwise known as hypertension.
Lead author Joline Beulens, a PhD fellow at TNO Quality of Life and Wageningen University, believes that the study is the first to examine the risk of heart attack among men with hypertension who drink moderately.
"Because excess alcohol intake clearly increases blood pressure, many men with hypertension are counselled not to drink, but our results suggest that may not be necessary if men drink safely and responsibly", she said.
However, she warned that the findings "are not a license for men with hypertension to overindulge", as drinking more than three alcoholic beverages a day has been shown to increase blood pressure.
The study is published in the January 2nd 2007 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Private treatment news : 2/01/2007
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