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Alcohol Consumption, Blood Pressure, Lipids, and Cardiovascular Mortality
Author(s) -
Criqui Michael H.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1986.tb05145.x
Subject(s) - blood pressure , medicine , alcoholic cardiomyopathy , alcohol consumption , cardiology , coronary heart disease , cardiomyopathy , epidemiology , stroke (engine) , disease , alcohol , blood lipids , cholesterol , heart failure , biology , mechanical engineering , biochemistry , engineering
Interest in the effects of alcohol on cardiovascular risk factors and disease has increased sharply with reports of complex and previously unsuspected associations. The present report focuses on the associations of alcohol with blood pressure, lipids, and cardiovascular disease mortality. The epidemiological evidence to date appears to support the idea that moderate alcohol consumption, defined as two drinks a day or less, may offer some protection for coronary heart disease, but that higher levels of alcohol promote hypertension and are directly toxic to the heart, leading to stroke, arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, and perhaps even coronary heart disease.