Alcohol use, Hypertension and Coronary Heart Disease

1. Male death rates from hypertension and stroke in England and Wales in 1949–53 were highest in those socio-economic and occupational groups with the highest death rates for cirrhosis of the liver (and presumably with highest alcohol intake).

2. In prevalence data from the Busselton population in Western Australia in 1969, there was a significant association between hypertension and a history of heavy drinking.

3. Together with other data, these observations suggest that up to 30% of hypertension in affluent countries may prove to be attributable to the use of alcohol.