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The Dual Relation of Heart Disease and Alcohol

Health professionals and medical researchers have spent a lot of time on studying the relationship between heart disease and alcohol. Their findings so far suggest two opposite kinds of effects of alcohol on the health of heart and blood vessels. Alcohol consumption has certain risks and also some benefits for the heart and arteries of the user, depending primarily on the quantity of alcohol consumed daily. Other significant factors that determine the nature of relation between heart disease and alcohol are the pattern of alcohol intake and the age of the person taking alcohol.

Heart Disease and Alcohol Risks

High intake of alcohol, especially for long periods of time, has been shown to cause the rupture of blood vessels. If this happens to vessels supplying blood to the brain, the condition called stroke is the result (characterized by loss of certain brain functions). Excess consumption of alcohol is a major risk factor for hypertension (high blood pressure). Also, alcohol is regarded one of the factors responsible for causing cardiomyopathy, which is a reduction in the heart’s strength to pump blood efficiently.

The connection between heart disease and alcohol is manifest in another condition called the holiday heart syndrome. It is characterized by irregular heartbeat, breathing difficulty, and abnormal blood pressure, observed particularly in otherwise healthy people who do binge drinking. However, holiday heart syndrome may also occur in some people who consume alcohol in moderate amounts for a long time.

Beneficial Effects of Alcohol for the Heart

In people of middle age and older, alcohol consumption in moderate amounts has been found to decrease the risk of heart disease, especially of the ischemic heart disease (IHD). Some studies suggest that drinking red wine in moderate quantities brings greater benefit to heart and vessels but the general opinion appears to suggest that the beneficial effects come from the alcohol itself and hence there is little (if any) extra advantage won by consuming red wine.

The Relation between Heart Disease and Alcohol Consumption

Heart disease results when cholesterol and other fatty compounds accumulate in the arteries of the heart over a considerable period of time. It is believed that moderate use of alcohol can prevent arteries from constricting and also from thrombi (blood clots) forming in the arteries.

Experiments have also shown that alcohol defends arteries against narrowing, facilitating blood flow to and from the heart. Overdrinking, however, can harm the health of the heart and blood vessels by raising blood pressure to abnormally high levels. This can cause heart disease and damage to blood vessels.