Doctors warn that it is forbidden to drink alcoholic drinks with high blood pressure, it threatens a heart attack or stroke. Only a little wine or cognac is allowed.
Many people suffer from hypertension, complain of high blood pressure. If it was once a disease of the elderly, now young people also suffer from it. It is almost impossible to cure it, but if you regularly take medications, you can bring the pressure back to normal. Many patients faced with this disease are concerned about the question: "Is it possible to drink alcohol with hypertension? "How will alcohol affect the well-being of a sick person? Let's see what the doctors have to say about it.
A little about hypertension
Hypertension is called the "silent killer" for a reason. Often, a person does not even suspect that he is sick until the doctor measures his blood pressure. For many people, a pressure of 120/80 is considered normal, and increasing it to 140/90 is a slight deviation from the norm, the pressure from 160/95 is high, and requires constant treatment. But it should be remembered that these numbers are not suitable for some people, they may have slightly low or slightly high blood pressure, which does not affect their well-being.
How else can you understand that a person suffers from hypertension? He may have the following symptoms:
- Headache, in the back of the head.
- My head is spinning.
- Heart pains appear.
- He has insomnia.
- A person has mood swings.
If the patient is in no hurry to get treatment, then everything can end very sadly for him. Complications of hypertension - heart failure, stroke, heart attack. Can I drink alcohol with hypertension? We will talk about this.
Hypertension and alcohol
Scientists and doctors talk about the relationship between alcohol and high blood pressure. If you constantly drink alcoholic beverages, then the chance of becoming ill with hypertension increases 2-4 times. Can I drink alcohol with high blood pressure? To understand this issue, you need to understand how alcoholic beverages affect the human body.
Effects of alcohol on humans
Alcohol enters the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body. It contains ethanol, which causes the blood vessels to dilate. Therefore, at first, a person's blood pressure decreases. The blood starts to move very quickly, the load on the heart increases. However, the vessels do not remain dilated for a long time, after a while they shrink, which causes a person's pressure to increase. The answer to the question of whether it is possible to drink alcohol with high blood pressure has been found. A person who suffers from hypertension should not drink alcoholic beverages. Despite the fact that at first alcohol lowers the pressure a little, then it becomes high, which can lead to a stroke or heart attack.
Research by South Korean scientists
Scientists from South Korea have also confirmed this. They were also worried about the question of whether it is possible to drink alcoholic beverages with high blood pressure or with hypertension. Staff from the College of Medicine were able to prove that people who drink alcohol with high blood pressure risk dying prematurely from a heart attack. This study was conducted for almost 21 years. Scientists observed the life of 6100 people who were over 50 years old. Among them were those who like to drink alcohol: 15% - drinkers and 3% - heavy drinkers.
Scientists monitored the condition of drinkers and non-drinkers, with hypertension. If at a pressure of at least 168/100 a person consumed more than sixty grams of alcohol contained in drinks, then his chance of dying prematurely increased by 4 times. If he drank more, that is, about 120 g of alcohol, then the numbers were more frightening: he had a 12 times greater chance of dying. Already these figures clearly show whether it is possible to drink alcohol with high blood pressure. And it's easy to explain. With hypertension, constant high pressure, the cardiovascular system suffers greatly, alcohol also has a negative effect on it, and together this explosive mixture increases the likelihood of early death of a person.
Alcohol and drugs for hypertension
We have established that alcoholic beverages should not be consumed with hypertension. Those who have encountered this disease know that with constant high blood pressure, you need to take pills. What and in what quantity, the doctor decides. It is no secret that many drugs and alcohol are incompatible, it can either enhance their effect, or reduce it. In addition, if you take pills and alcohol at the same time, they become toxic, which cannot but affect a person's well-being.
At best it will be dizziness, at worst - arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, hallucinations. So, if you take alcohol and medicines containing nitroglycerin at the same time, you can die. If you drink alcoholic beverages with high blood pressure, the vessels first dilate. When a person takes a pill, he will also dilate blood vessels. Because of this, the pressure in the aorta will sharply decrease, the amount of blood it needs will cease to flow to the heart, and heart failure will develop. A person can be saved if they immediately receive medical attention. Therefore, you can not drink alcohol and take medicine at the same time, any doctor will tell you about this.
Exception to the rule
You don't have to be an alcoholic to drink alcohol. Sometimes there is a reason to have a drink, such as a birthday or New Year's. What alcohol can you drink with high blood pressure, what drinks are allowed and in what quantity? Before the feast, you need to measure the pressure. If it is very high, then it is better not to drink alcohol on this day, but to limit yourself to mineral water or soda. If all is well, you can afford to drink a little.
Which beverages should not be consumed and which should be drunk? Better to give up champagne, vodka and beer. Red wine and good cognac are allowed. You can drink up to 200 ml of red wine and 50 g of brandy. Some people are sure that if they have drunk, and their health has not worsened, then there is no need to worry, they can continue to drink. It's a delusion. The reaction to alcohol may not appear immediately, but after some time, so a person may become ill the next day. It is up to a person to decide whether or not to drink at high blood pressure, but if he is not ready to listen to the advice of doctors, he will have to come to terms with the consequences of the addiction.