Alcohol Consumption and Antihypertensive Treatment Effect in Male Patients With Hypertension

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is a proven risk factor of hypertension. In the present analysis, we investigated the use of antihypertensive medications and blood pressure control in male alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers with hypertension (systolic/diastolic blood pressure 160-199/100-119 mm Hg).METHODS: The study participants were patients enrolled in a 12-week therapeutic study and treated with the irbesartan/hydrochlorothiazide combination 150/12.5 mg once daily, with the possible up-titration to 300/12.5 mg/day and 300/25 mg/day at 4 and 8 weeks of follow-up, respectively, for blood pressure control of <140/90 mm Hg or <130/80 mm Hg in patients with diabetes mellitus. Alcohol consumption was classified as non-drinkers and drinkers.RESULTS: The 68 alcohol drinkers and 168 non-drinkers had similar systolic/diastolic blood pressure at baseline (160.8 +/- 12.1/99.8 +/- 8.6 vs. 161.8 +/- 11.0/99.2 +/- 8.6, P >= 0.55) and other characteristics except for current smoking (80.9% vs. 47.6%, P < 0.0001). In patients who completed the 12-week follow-up (n = 215), the use of higher dosages of antihypertensive drugs was similar at 4 weeks of follow-up in drinkers and non-drinkers (10.6% vs. 12.4%, P = 0.70), but increased to a significantly higher proportion in drinkers than non-drinkers at 12 weeks of follow-up (54.7% vs. 36.6%, P = 0.01). The control rate of hypertension tended to be lower in alcohol drinkers, compared with non-drinkers, at 4 weeks of follow-up (45.6% vs. 58.9%, P = 0.06), but became similar at 12 weeks of follow-up (51.5% vs. 54.8%, P = 0.65).CONCLUSION: Alcohol drinkers compared with non-drinkers required a higher dosage of antihypertensive drug treatment to achieve similar blood pressure control.

Automated summary

This study investigated the use of antihypertensive medications and blood pressure control in male alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers with hypertension. The study found that alcohol drinkers required a higher dosage of antihypertensive drugs to achieve similar blood pressure control compared to non-drinkers.