When we identify people with high blood pressure, if we don't pay attention to blood pressure control for a long time, and the blood pressure is always high, then the heart will get more and more tired and pump blood more and harder, which can lead to serious health problems such as kidney failure, heart failure, heart attack, and stroke.
Most people with high blood pressure only develop symptoms when the condition progresses enough to damage the lining of their arteries.
In other words, someone who knows that they have high blood pressure only knows that they have a sudden heart attack or stroke and then go to the hospital for a check-up. That's why we keep calling high blood pressure the "silent killer".
In fact, in clinical practice, there will be "emergency" times for hypertension.
When someone has a blood pressure of more than 180/120mmHg and is accompanied by symptoms of target organ damage, such as irregular heartbeat, chest pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, etc., we can diagnose this emergency as malignant hypertension.
Because malignant hypertension affects the organs that are most sensitive to changes in blood pressure, such as our kidneys, eyes, brain, and heart, they are the most vulnerable to damage.
Although malignant hypertension is relatively rare, it only affects 1%-3% of patients with hypertension, but once it occurs, its harm is huge, and in severe cases, it can even affect our lives. In addition to the organic lesions of the body, some negative lifestyles can also increase the risk of hypertension crisis, such as not taking antihypertensive drugs, long-term heavy alcohol consumption, etc.
In fact, the dangers of high blood pressure are much more than that. Although more often than not, we suffer from high blood pressure without realizing it, but once complications occur, it will not only hurt us, but also cause pain to the whole family. A few days ago, I saw a 54-year-old patient with high blood pressure, who knew that his blood pressure was high, not only stopped taking antihypertensive drugs without permission, but also always liked to drink, but suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. To this day, he remains in the intensive care unit.
How is high blood pressure related to alcohol consumption?
Epidemiological studies have shown a clear association between excessive alcohol consumption and hypertension, and that alcohol consumption is directly related to increased systolic blood pressure. The results of the 1999-2004 United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that:
An increase of 10 g of alcohol per day in men and women increased mean systolic blood pressure by 1 mmHg. 【1】
A large body of scientific research has now linked long-term alcohol consumption to multiple effects on health. For long-term drinkers, especially young drinkers, almost every system in our body is adversely affected by alcohol, such as metabolic syndrome, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. Moreover, heavy alcohol consumption has also been shown to cause health problems, such as liver disease or cirrhosis, brain damage, irregular heartbeat, cancer, etc., and can even make it more difficult to manage and control other diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.
According to a paper in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology, it was found that:
The prevalence of hypertension in men increased with the increase of weekly drinking frequency, the age of initiation of weekly drinking was earlier, and the types of adverse conditions related to alcohol consumption increased. 【2】
Indeed, we men will drink more and more as the frequency of drinking increases. After all, there are many people who like to drink alcohol in our country, and we all use strong liquor. That is, long-term drinking can make us mentally and psychologically dependent, and we will always have a hard time quitting. For patients with high blood pressure, if they can't quit drinking, even if they take antihypertensive drugs on time, it will reduce the effect of drugs on blood pressure.
Why do almost all doctors advise people with high blood pressure not to drink alcohol, and how did the conclusion come about?
In clinical practice, I believe that every doctor hopes to provide the most sincere and authoritative medical advice to his patients, and also hopes that patients can follow their own guidance and suggestions to bring a lot of help to their recovery. Indeed, for all doctors, in the face of patients with high blood pressure, they will be advised not to drink alcohol. In fact, this is not a nonsense out of thin air, or fabricated by one's own clinical experience, in the face of any disease, when our doctors treat it, we will follow the authoritative treatment guidelines. As treatment guidelines are updated, so does the doctor's knowledge.
In fact, the Chinese Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension 2010 stated:
Excessive alcohol consumption is a risk factor for the onset of hypertension, and the prevalence of hypertension increases with the increase of alcohol consumption. Although blood pressure drops for a short period of time after drinking a small amount of alcohol, long-term drinking of small amounts of alcohol can cause a slight increase in blood pressure.
Based on this, the Guidelines state that:
All patients with hypertension should limit alcohol consumption, and men should not exceed 25 g of alcohol per day; Women should not consume more than 15g of alcohol per day. Patients with high blood pressure are not encouraged to drink alcohol, and if they drink alcohol, they should be in small amounts: the amount of liquor, wine or rice wine and beer should be less than 50ml, 100ml, and 300ml per day.
From the above guidelines, we can see that the attitude of medical advice towards drinking alcohol in patients with hypertension is always "limited", "not recommended", and "small amounts". Since people with high blood pressure are not encouraged to drink alcohol, doctors will definitely advise people with high blood pressure not to drink alcohol. After all, alcohol is a thing that is easy to control yourself when you drink too much, and you will be addicted to drinking for a long time, so it is best for patients with high blood pressure to quit.
However, we look at it in combination with actual life, but anyone who likes to drink likes to be greedy, and if you let him drink 50ml of liquor every day, he may not be willing to beat him to death. Therefore, no matter how much we once liked to drink, once we were diagnosed with high blood pressure, we should not shout the slogan of drinking a small amount of alcohol, and simply quit is the most practical thing to do.
Conclusion:
Quitting alcohol as soon as possible can have health benefits for people with high blood pressure, whether it is blood pressure control or other diseases. For patients with high blood pressure, in addition to abstaining from alcohol, we can make some small changes to our lifestyle habits, such as eating a less low-sodium diet, exercising regularly, and maintaining a healthy weight, which can effectively control blood pressure. In fact, more often than not, we should see blood pressure control as the perfect reason to help us recover our health, so the more confident we are in the fight against high blood pressure.