Of the 577 subjects, 272 were men and 305 were women. The characteristics of all subjects screened are shown in Table 1. Mean age±SD for men and women was 44.1 ±12.2 years and 45.8±9.7 years, respectively. Fourteen men and 22 women were being treated with antihypertensive medication at the time of the study, and they were excluded from further analysis to avoid the possible confounding effect of antihypertensive treatment on the alcoholblood pressure relation. Alcohol consumption among men was almost four times as much as that in women. Beer intake accounted for 90% of alcoholic beverages consumed by men. In women, beer and spirits