Alcohol and hypertension: implications from research for clinical practice

Despite the fact that recent epidemiological and laboratory studies appear to confirm that alcohol has an effect upon blood pressure, its impact has largely been ignored in clinical practice. This study was undertaken in an effort to answer four basic questions Is there an association between blood pressure and ethanol ingestion and if so is it causal or related to common genetic and/or environmental factors?; If an association exists, what is its likely physiological mechanism?; What additional studies are needed in order to further elucidate the relationship between alcohol and blood pressure?; What clinical recommendations, if any, are justified with our present state of knowledge?