Binge Drinking, Hypertension a Deadly Combo

The report is published in the Aug. 19 online edition of Stroke.

For the study, Ohrr’s team collected data on 6,100 men and women living in a farming community. The researchers followed these people for almost 21 years.

The participants were divided into four groups: nondrinkers, non-binge drinkers, moderate binge drinkers (defined as having six or more drinks on one occasion), and heavy binge drinkers (defined as having 12 or more drinks on one occasion).

Among the men with high blood pressure, 17.8 percent were moderate binge drinkers, and 3.9 percent were heavy binge drinkers (a percentage similar to the men with normal blood pressure). As for the women, there were too few who said they were binge drinkers to be able to draw conclusions, the researchers said.

Ohrr’s group found that compared with nondrinkers, the risk of stroke among men with high blood pressure was increased threefold. If these men drank six or more drinks at one time, their risk for stroke increased fourfold, and with 12 drinks or more, the risk rose 12-fold.