Can Excessive Drinking Affect Blood Pressure?
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure to unhealthy levels.” A temporary increase in blood pressure can occur when you have three drinks in one sitting, but prolonged binge drinking can have long-lasting effects.
What is considered binge drinking?
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), binge drinking is defined as 4 drinks or more for women within 2 hours and 5 drinks or more within 2 hours for men. They base it off of the average amount of alcohol it takes for a person’s blood alcohol concentration to reach 0.08 percent.
How does alcohol affect blood pressure?
While the direct connection between heavy alcohol consumption and an increase in blood pressure is still being studied, scientists believe it has to do with “the way alcohol is processed through the body.” According to GoodRx this is evidenced by the fact that a person’s blood pressure is returned to normal once the alcohol is processed, unless the person has engaged in heavy drinking over a prolonged period leading to chronic hypertension. Additionally, the article discusses the indirect relationship between heavy alcohol consumption and an increase in blood pressure: “Alcohol contains lots of calories and sugars which contribute to increased body fat, weight gain, and poor diet. All of these factors can lead to high blood pressure.”
When to get help?
It is never too early to seek treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). The NIAAA estimates that 15 million people in the United States have AUD and only a small percentage of those people seek treatment. Alcohol use disorder can have serious health implications. It is crucial to seek help immediately if you have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol including having a strong need or urge to drink, the inability to stop drinking or continuing to drink even when it was causing trouble with family or friends.