Alcohol and blood pressure The effect of age. Findings from the Italian nine communities study

This report analyzes the role of age in the association between alcohol consumption and blood pressure in a large sample (n = 6165) of Italian men and women, aged 20 to 59 years, who participated in a multicenter study on risk factors for arteriosclerosis. Age-stratified analysis indicated that both men and women aged 50 to 59 years showed the strongest positive association between alcohol consumption and blood pressure. While in men the association between systolic blood pressure and alcohol consumption increased linearly with age, in women the association between systolic blood pressure and alcohol increased sharply in the oldest (50 to 59 year) age group.