The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Diabetes, alcohol side effects
The 2013 movie “Blood Pressure” is a chilling tale of a 41-yearold woman who puts her life in danger because she was thirsty for release from her everyday existence. There’s a lesson in there for anyone with Type 2 diabetes who’s thirsty for a couple of drinks of alcohol a day. It may feel like it releases you from everyday stresses, but in truth, it just amps up your risk for high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.
A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association looked at the relationship between Type 2 diabetes, moderate alcohol consumption and high blood pressure. Using data on 10,000 participants in the four-year-long Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes study, the researchers discovered that light drinking (one to seven drinks a week) was not associated with elevated blood pressure. But moderate drinking (eight to 14 weekly) upped the risk for elevated blood pressure (between 120/80 and 129/<80mmHg) by 79% and for diagnosed HBP by 66%. They also saw that heavy drinking (15+ weekly) increases the odds of elevated blood pressure by 91% and the risk for severe HBP by 204%.
Heart disease is the number one complication of Type 2 diabetes, and HBP is a major contributor to diabetes complications such as retinopathy, kidney problems and, of course, stroke. So, if you have prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes, it makes all kinds of sense to make sure your alcohol intake is on the low, low end of light drinking.