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Regular Alcohol Consumption Could Lower Cardiovascular Morbidity In Hypertensives
A DGReview of :"Serum lipoprotein(a) concentrations and alcohol consumption in hypertension: possible relevance for cardiovascular damage."
Journal of Hypertension
02/10/2003
By David Loshak
Hypertensives might reduce their cardiovascular morbidity and improve their atherosclerotic risk profile by consuming alcohol on a regular basis.
Regular consumption reduces concentrations of serum lipoprotein(a), a powerful predictor of organ damage, say researchers in Udine, Italy.
They based these conclusions on findings that lipoprotein(a) is inversely and dose-dependently related to alcohol intake in hypertensive patients, and that this relationship was independent of the size distribution of apo(a) isoforms.
The researchers studied 402 patients with untreated essential hypertension to assess the links between drinking and serum lipoprotein(a) over a wide range of alcohol intake levels. They also investigated whether the association between alcohol intake and serum lipoprotein(a) concentrations occurred over the whole spectrum of apo(a) phenotypes.
There was no difference in lipoprotein(a) concentrations between teetotallers and occasional drinkers. Compared with teetotallers and occasional drinkers, however, median lipoprotein(a) concentrations were 21% lower in light drinkers (those consuming up to 20 grams of ethanol daily), 26% lower in moderate drinkers (21-50 grams daily) and 57% lower in heavy drinkers (over 50 grams daily). The findings were similar in men and women.
The frequency distributions of apo(a) isoforms and liver function parameters were comparable across these intake groups.
Log lipoprotein(a) concentrations were inversely and independently correlated with alcohol consumption in hypertensives of both sexes.
Patients with evidence of cardiovascular damage had higher concentrations of serum lipoprotein(a) and more low-molecular weight apo(a) isoforms than patients without such evidence.
Journal of Hypertension 2003;21:2:281-288.
"Serum lipoprotein(a) concentrations and alcohol consumption in hypertension: possible relevance for cardiovascular damage."
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