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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Relation of Alcohol Consumption and Coronary Heart Disease in Hypertensive Male Physicians (from the Physicians' Health Study)
Amer J of Cardiololgy Volume 104, Issue 7, Pages 932-935 (1 October 2009)

Alcohol has diverse effects on the cardiovascular system. Moderate drinking is associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, yet increasing amounts of alcohol consumption are known to increase blood pressure. These opposing effects have led to interest in the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with hypertension.

To test the hypothesis that moderate alcohol consumption decreases the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with hypertension, we used data on 5,164 participants in the Physicians' Health Study who were apparently healthy and free of CHD at baseline. Incident MI was ascertained by annual follow-up questionnaires and validated through review of medical records.

In conclusion, our data demonstrated an inverse relation between moderate alcohol consumption and CHD in hypertensive men.


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