Normal blood pressure is defined as 120/80 mmHG or below, while high blood pressure (or hypertension) starts at 140/90. In this study, which appears in the AHA journal Stroke, severe hypertension was considered to be 168/110 or higher.
On their own, both binge drinking and hypertension up the risk of fatal stroke or heart attack. Regardless of whether they drank alcohol, the men in the study were twice as likely to die from a cardiovascular problem if they had hypertension—as were the heavy binge drinkers, regardless of their blood pressure.
Experts aren’t certain why binge drinking might increase cardiovascular risk. Hypertension is known to damage blood vessels, and drinking alcohol may contribute to the hardening of arteries. It may also make the arterial plaques that cause strokes and heart attacks more unstable.
“There’s something about alcohol that makes the blood vessels more vulnerable to plaque formation and plaque rupture,” says Dr. Silver, who was not involved in the new research.
The findings may not necessarily apply to everyone. There were too few women binge drinkers in the study for the researchers to determine whether the same patterns held in women, for instance.
And the study was conducted in a rural population in South Korea, where the drinks of choice are soju (a rice wine similar to Japanese sake, only stronger) and makkoli (a milder rice-based drink). It’s not clear whether Jack Daniels and Budweiser would produce the same results.
The study’s shortcomings aren’t an excuse to drink too much or allow your blood pressure to get out of control, however. The AHA recommends that men and women consume no more than two drinks and one drink per day, respectively.
“Binge drinking is probably not a good idea anyway. Uncontrolled hypertension is not a good idea. The combination is worse,” says Robert Myerburg, MD, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
“These are pretty impressive numbers if they’re correct,” he adds.
