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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Even Moderate Drinking Is Bad For The Heart! It is known that indulgence in alcohol drinking can raise the likelihood of developing high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, and it can trigger atrial fibrillation (AF), which is the most common type of arrhythmia. During an arrhythmia, the heart can beat too fast, too slow, or with an irregular rhythm. AF is not immediately life-threatening to some people and in some cases, an AF episode is short-lived and could just go away on its own. But for certain people, AF could become recurrent or permanent, which would then increase their risk of heart failure and stroke. Older age, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity are some known risk factors for AF. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), about 2.7 million Americans have AF. While health experts believe that moderate drinking (up to 2 drinks for men and 1 drink for women per day) is protective against coronary heart disease, they have yet to find any evidence to link modest drinking to a lower risk of AF. This is not surprising. Alcohol might reduce the risk of coronary heart disease through better good cholesterol levels and less blood clotting, but this does not affect the risk of developing AF.
A study, which was published on October 1, 2012 in the ‘Canadian Medical Association Journal’, suggested that when people already have heart disease, moderate drinking could actually be tied to more AF cases. Researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and other institutions form China, Belgium and United Kingdom analyzed data for 30,433 adults who participated in 2 large antihypertensive drug treatment trials and who had no AF at baseline. The participants were 55 years or older and had a history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes with end-organ damage. In the study, the levels of alcohol drinking were classified as low, moderate and high intake based on guidelines used in various countries, and binge drinking was defined as more than 5 drinks a day. During a period of about 5 years, a total of 2093 patients had incident AF. People who drank occasionally or not at all developed AF at a rate of 1.45 percent each year. The rate was 1.73 and 2.08 percent for moderate and heavy drinkers respectively. Even after the researchers excluded people who reported a history of binge drinking, the results remained the same. It was concluded that moderate to high alcohol intake was associated with an increased incidence of AF among people aged 55 or older with cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Among moderate drinkers, the effect of binge drinking on the risk of AF was similar to that of habitual heavy drinking. Since the researchers did not repeatedly measure binge drinking habits over the 5-year follow-up period, it was impossible to know whether moderate drinkers’ AF episodes were actually related to binge drinking. It should be noted that nationwide, many people who had binge drinking were merely moderate drinkers. Not all health experts found the new findings convincing. In general, most health experts advise people who are already moderate drinkers to continue their consumption. However, they felt that older individuals with cardiovascular disease or diabetes should probably limit their alcohol consumption to no more than 1 drink per week. It is critical that people should avoid binge drinking even if they only drink occasionally. Having said that, one should take note that the AHA does not recommend drinking wine or any other alcoholic beverages to gain these potential benefits. Instead, AHA recommend that people should talk to their doctor about lowering their cholesterol and lowering high blood pressure, controlling weight, getting enough physical activity and following a healthy diet. In fact, there is yet any scientific proof that drinking wine or any other alcoholic beverage can replace these conventional measures.
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