Alcohol reduces insulin-hypertension relationship in a general population: The Hisayama study

Hisatomi Arima, Yutaka Kiyohara, Isao Kato, Yumihiro Tanizaki, Michiaki Kubo, Hiromitsu Iwamoto, Keiichi Tanaka, Isao Abe, Masatoshi Fujishima

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Insulin resistance may be a factor in the etiology of hypertension, and habitual alcohol intake may modify this relationship. We prospectively examined this hypothesis in 1,133 nonhypertensive, nondiabetic Japanese subjects, aged 40-79 years. Alcohol drinkers were more frequent among men than women at baseline (57.7 vs. 8.2%). The age-adjusted incidence of hypertension significantly increased with the elevating baseline insulin levels in women (P = .003 for trend), but not in men. The age- and sex-adjusted insulin levels and insulin resistance index decreased with elevating alcohol intake, while fasting glucose levels remained unchanged, suggesting that alcohol improves insulin sensitivity. Among nondrinkers, the age-adjusted incidence of hypertension significantly increased with elevating insulin tertiles in both sexes (P = .048 and .002 for trend in men and women, respectively), but not among drinkers. Our findings suggest a close association between insulin resistance and the incidence of hypertension in Japanese. However, alcohol modified and reduced this relationship.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)863-869
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume55
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01-09-2002
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Epidemiology

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