Alcohol and Hypertension: Are They Related?

 
The relation between alcohol and hypertension

Whether you are concerned about your own blood pressure or that of someone you love, one thing that you might find yourself wondering is what alcohol has to do with it. 

Many doctors will tell you that hypertension or high blood pressure is related to alcohol use and that if you drink excessively you can run the risk of raising your blood pressure.

Unless you really understand the why of the relationship between alcohol and high blood pressure, you may not be inclined to take it seriously. The truth is that the more you know about this issue, the more you will be able to understand why cutting back might one of the most healthy decisions that you have ever made!

Some facts

• The first thing that you will want to keep in mind when thinking about alcohol and hypertension is the fact that alcohol can greatly contribute to weight gain. Weight gain is an issue that can make you a candidate for high blood pressure, and in addition to this, you will find that alcohol, due to its depressive nature, can interfere with the effectiveness of some blood pressure medication while increasing the side effects of others. As you may guess, this makes alcohol one of the main points of contention when it comes to looking for a culprit. Hypertension is easy to diagnose, but hard to halt, so take some time and really think about what you are doing that might be contributing to this issue. Remember that in many cases, for many problems, you will find many causes, not just one.
  
  

  Essentially, what alcohol does when it is in your body is very simple: 

• Once alcohol gets into your blood stream, you will find that what it tends to do is that it will cover the blood vessels and artery walls. This will increase the tension these passages, thus raising the pressure of the blood as it tries to go through your body. 
• Another relation between alcohol and hypertension is the fact that it can deplete the amount of calcium and magnesium in your body, which can also contribute.

Take some time and think about what your drinking habits are like. It has been stated that people who are considered heavy drinkers, who cut back even a little bit, can lower their blood pressure impressively. Moderate drinking is typically defined as two drinks a day or men younger than sixty five, and one drink a day for me older that sixty five and for women. In this case, you'll find that one drink is usually defined as 1.5 ounces o distilled spirits, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer. What is your own drinking like, and is this something that you are going to need to consider when you are looking at moving forward and getting the results that you want.

When you are looking at bringing your blood pressure down to a manageable level, you'll find that cutting down on the alcohol can go a long way!