Buckman 2015, Van De Borne 1997, and Fazio 2001 also reported reduced baroreflex sensitivity following alcohol consumption. Impairment of baroreflex sensitivity results in failure to sense the increase in heart rate and maintenance of cardiovascular homeostasis. Kawano 2000 reported a reduction in plasma potassium levels https://ecosoberhouse.com/ after alcohol consumption, which might provide another reason for the increase in heart rate. High‐dose alcohol decreased SBP by 3.49 mmHg within the first six hours, and by 3.77 mmHg between 7 and 12 hours after consumption. After 13 hours, high doses of alcohol increased SBP by 3.7 mmHg compared to placebo.

Karatzi 2005, Mahmud 2002, Maule 1993, and Potter 1986 did not mention the method of blinding of outcome assessors. Even though Dumont 2010 mentioned blinding of outcome assessors, it is not clear whether blinding of outcome assessment was maintained in the case of blood pressure and heart rate measurements. Even though these studies reported that participants were randomised to receive alcohol or placebo, the method of randomisation was not mentioned. https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/how-does-alcohol-affect-your-blood-pressure/ Although three studies did not report the method of randomisation (Barden 2013; Buckman 2015; Dai 2002), their reported baseline characteristics were well matched. The remaining seven studies reported the method of randomisation used, hence we classified them as having low risk of bias. It is important to note that information regarding to the method of randomisation used in Foppa 2002 and Rosito 1999 was provided by the study author via email.

Alcohol and blood pressure

The reason for exclusion was documented for each citation at the full‐text level. We also checked the list of references in the included studies and articles that cited the included studies in Google Scholar to identify relevant articles. Two review authors (ST and CT) independently extracted data and assessed the quality of included studies. Mean difference (MD) from placebo with 95% confidence interval (CI) was the outcome measure, and a fixed‐effect model was used to combine effect sizes across studies. There is a significant amount of data to show that drinking large quantities of alcohol, whether it is a spirits, beer, or wine, can increase the risk of developing hypertension.

Monitoring your blood pressure (BP) is an important part of maintaining your health. Blood pressure measures the force pressed against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood through your body. “Try nonalcoholic beer or wine, replace a cocktail with a mixed drink that contains only a splash of alcohol or none at all or make several days out of the week alcohol free,” she says.

Stubbs 1995 published data only

We considered statistical, clinical, and methodological heterogeneity between study populations and proceeded with the meta‐analysis if only we considered interventions, comparisons, and outcome measures similar enough to pool. When trials compared more than one dose of alcohol, we handled each comparison separately. Because all of our outcomes of interest provided continuous data, we used the inverse variance approach and a fixed‐effect model to combine effect sizes across studies.

Dumont 2010 measured blood pressure during the RCT, but study authors did not provide the before and after measurement of DBP. The aim of Fazio 2004 was to determine effects of alcohol on blood flow volume and velocity. Study authors mentioned that acute ethanol administration caused transitory increase in BP at 20 minutes. Rossinen 1997 measured blood pressure but selectively reported only SBP instead of reporting both SBP and DBP. Karatzi 2013Maufrais 2017 and Van De Borne 1997 measured blood pressure before and after treatment but did not report these measurements. Another reason behind the heterogeneity was probably the variation in alcohol intake duration and in the timing of measurement of outcomes across the included studies.