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Specific alcoholic beverage and blood pressure in a middle-aged Japanese population: the High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion (HIPOP-OHP) Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of popular Japanese alcoholic beverages on blood pressure. We performed a cross-sectional study on 4335 Japanese male workers using baseline data from an intervention study. We defined six groups according to the type of alcoholic beverage that provided two-thirds of the subject's total alcohol consumption: beer, sake (rice wine), shochu (traditional Japanese spirits), whiskey, wine and others. The partial regression coefficients of daily alcohol intake (1 drink=11.5 g of ethanol) to systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were 0.87(P<0.001, standard error (s.e.)=0.09) and 0.77(P<0.001, s.e.=0.06), respectively. A comparison among the types of alcoholic beverages mainly consumed revealed significant differences in SBP and DBP. Both SBP and DBP were highest in the shochu group. However, an analysis of covariance adjusting for total alcohol consumption resulted in the disappearance of these differences. Although after adjustment for total alcohol consumption, the shochu group exhibited a significant positive association with ‘high-normal blood pressure or greater’ (odds ratio 1.43, 95% confidence interval 1.06–1.95) compared with the beer group, this significant relation disappeared after adjusting for the body mass index (BMI), urinary sodium and potassium excretion. The pressor effect, per se, of popular Japanese alcoholic beverages on blood pressure may not be different among the types of alcoholic beverages after adjusting for other lifestyle factors.

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Appendix

Appendix

HIPOP-OHP Research group:

Chairman: Hirotsugu Ueshima (Department of Health Science, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga).

Participating Researchers: Akira Okayama, Nobuo Nishi, Keiko Tsuji (Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Iwate Medical University, School of Medicine, Iwate), Katsushi Yoshita (Department of National Nutrition Survey and Health Informatics, National Institute of Health and Nutrition), Toru Takebayashi, Yuriko Kikuchi (Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Keio University), Hideaki Nakagawa, Katsuyuki Miura (Department of Public Health, Kanazawa Medical University), Hiroshi Yamato (Institute of Industrial Ecological Science, University of Occupational and Environmental Health), Nagako Chiba (Department of Human-Life, Tsukuba International Junior College), Masahiko Yanagita (Department of Health and Nutrition, Yonezawa Women's College of Yamagata Prefecture), Kazunori Kodama, Fumiyoshi Kasagi (Department of Epidemiology, Radiation Effects Research Foundation), Yukinori Kusaka (Department of Environmental Health, School of Fukui Medical University), Shigeyuki Saitoh (Second Department of Internal Medicine School of Medicine, Sapporo Medical University), Kiyomi Sakata (Department of Public Health, Wakayama Medical University), Hideo Tanaka (Department of Cancer Control and Statistics, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases), Masakazu Nakamura (Cholesterol Reference Laboratory Network at Osaka Medical Center for Health Science and Promotion), Masakazu Nakamura, Yoshihiko Naito (Osaka Medical Center for Health Science and Promotion), Yasuyuki Nakamura (Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science), Makoto Watanabe, Yosikazu Nakamura (Department of Public Health, Jichi Medical School), Akira Babazono (Institute of Health Science, Kyushu University), Unai Tamura, Junko Minai, Zentaro Yamagata (Department of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Yamanashi), Sumio Urano (Matsushita Health Care Center), Fujihisa Kinoshita (Wakayama Wellness Foundation), Isao Saitoh (Department of Public Health, Nara Medical University), Shinichi Tanihara (Department of Environmental Medicine, Shimane Medical University), Junko Tamaki (Department of Public Health, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine), Osamu Tochikubo (Department of Public Health, Yokohama City University School of Medicine), Takeo Nakayama, Mariko Naito (Department of Medical System Informatics, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine Kyoto University), Shunichi Fukuhara (Department of Epidemiology and Healthcare Research, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine Kyoto University), Yasuharu Fujieda (Department of Health and Sport Sciences, Tokyo Gakugei University), Shunsaku Mizushima (International Research Center for Medical Education, The University of Tokyo), Yuji Miyoshi (Tokyo central Clinic, Health Insurance Society of Meiji Life), Taichiro Tanaka, Takashi Kadowaki, Toshimi Yoshida, Tomonori Okamura (Department of Health Science, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga).

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Okamura, T., Tanaka, T., Yoshita, K. et al. Specific alcoholic beverage and blood pressure in a middle-aged Japanese population: the High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion (HIPOP-OHP) Study. J Hum Hypertens 18, 9–16 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001627

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001627

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