Comparison of blood pressure response to mental and physical stress between heavy vs mild social drinkers

Heavy alcohol consumption is considered one of the cardiovascular risk factors. We studied hemodynamic response to mental and physical stress in 18 healthy, normotensive social drinkers. Study subjects were divided into heavy drinkers (>4 drinks/day, n=9) and mild drinkers (<ohol consumption questionnaire. Both groups were comparable in age, body mass index and gender distribution. Each subject performed a mental arithmetic test (MAT) and handgrip test. Hemodynamic variables were measured at baseline and during stress. Heavy and mild drinkers had similar baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP, 119/74 vs 120/70 mmHg, NS) and heart rate (HR, 71 vs 67 bpm, NS). During MAT, heavy drinkers had significantly higher HR response than mild drinkers (14 vs 7%, p < 0.05) but increases in BP were similar between two groups (131/79 vs 132/74 mmHg, NS). No significant differences were noted in BP and HR response to handgrip test between heavy and mild drinkers. Conclusion: Amount of alcohol consumption did not effect blood pressure at rest and during stress in healthy normotensive social drinkers. Elevated heart rate during mental stress may be one of the earliest abnormal findings in otherwise healthy heavy drinkers. Underlying mechanism of increased heart rate response to mental stress can not be answered in this study.