This study examines the response of blood pressure, plasma catecholamines and cortisol to acute alcohol intake in young men with light to moderate drinking habits. Ingestion of alcohol was associated with a highly significant increase in systolic blood pressure and heart rate which occurred before blood alcohol reached its peak concentration of 16.9 +/- 1.1 mmol/l (80 mg/100 ml). After an initial non-specific rise, diastolic pressure fell below values observed after drinking water only. This predominant effect of alcohol on systolic blood pressure is also seen with chronic alcohol consumption. Drinking water and non-alcoholic cold liquids caused a marked fall in plasma adrenaline and a transient rise in noradrenaline concentration. In contrast, drinking alcohol resulted in a relative rise in adrenaline and a delayed increase in noradrenaline concentration. Blood glucose increased after alcohol, supporting a physiological effect of adrenaline on liver glycogenolysis. Plasma cortisol concentration was also significantly higher after drinking alcohol. It is proposed that the relative rise in adrenaline together with higher cortisol levels, repeated over a variable period in susceptible individuals, are implicated in the elevation of blood pressure associated with long term alcohol consumption. It concurs with observations in man and experimental animals of a slow pressor mechanism mediated by adrenaline.

ObjectiveTo determine whether slow‐release enteric coated aspirin (100 mg daily), commenced before operation, improves the patency of saphenous vein (SV) coronary artery bypass grafts at six months. Design and settingDouble‐blind, randomised, placebo‐controlled study at a teaching hospital. ResultsOne hundred and forty patients were randomly allocated to receive enteric coated aspirin or matching placebo. Similar groups of 50 (aspirin) and 52 (placebo) subjects completed the six months follow‐up and had an angiogram to assess patency. Five patients treated with aspirin and nine who received placebo had at least one occluded SV graft; the distal ends of 6 of 128 SV grafts in aspirin‐treated patients (4.7%) and 13 of 145 SV grafts in patients in the placebo group (9.0%) were occluded — the difference was not significant. An arterial graft was occluded in one other patient in each group (3% of arterial grafts). There was more postoperative blood loss, on average, in patients treated with aspirin, but the difference was not significant. Only one patient was withdrawn from long‐term therapy because of possible gastrointestinal symptoms; most withdrawals from the trial were necessitated by commencement of aspirin or non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory therapy for musculoskeletal disorders. ConclusionsThe coronary bypass graft occlusion rate six months after surgery was low, and was lower on average in aspirin treated subjects but not significantly so. Long‐term treatment with low‐dose aspirin is recommended unless contraindicated. (Med J Aust 1993; 159: 376‐378)

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