An Overview Of The Effects Of Alcohol On The Heart

Heart is the most important organ in the body that keeps oxygenated blood moving around your body. This pumping system doesn’t work properly when your ticker, the arteries around your ticker or your other blood vessels are damaged. Such problems are collectively known as cardiovascular disease that increases the risk for cardiac arrests and heart attacks. High blood pressure and high cholesterol are the major heart disease risk factors. Smoking and long-term excessive drinking are as much risk factors.

Effects Of Drinking On Heart:

1.      Excessive drinking over a long period of time can increase your risk of developing heart disease, which can be attributed to the fact that drinking excessive amounts of alcohol increases your blood pressure- an important risk factor for having a heart attack or a stroke. Spike in blood pressure (BP) can also be caused by weight gain from excessive drinking. Additionally, heavy drinking weakens the heart muscle meaning the ticker can’t pump blood as efficiently. This condition is known as cardiomyopathy and can cause death in someone through heart failure (HF).

2.      Binge drinking can make your ticker beat irregularly making you feel breathless. Changes in BP might occur increasing your risk of a heart attack and sudden death.  

Are there any benefits?

According to research, small amounts of alcohol may have a protective effect on your ticker though scientists aren’t sure how drinking alcohol at low levels has a protective effect. Alcohol has appeared to raise the level of ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL) in the blood, thus reducing the amount of fatty deposit (atheroma) which narrows our arteries and increasing the likelihood to clog. Also, alcohol appears to help prevent blood clots formation which can block the arteries causing a heart attack (alcohol in small amounts can reduce the sudden rise of a protein (fibrinogen) produced by the liver, which is involved in formation of blood clots). Research is still ongoing whether drinking red wine is “good for the heart”.

As per doctors, starting to drink alcohol to protect yourself against cardiovascular disease isn’t wise at all because it’s just not worth it. While alcohol’s anti-clotting ability might protect against a potential heart attack, it may increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke (when blood from an artery begins bleeding into the brain). The potential small benefits of alcohol for the ticker are outweighed by its increased risks of developing other serious illnesses like liver disease or cancer.

There are various ways to lower your risk of developing cardiovascular disease. To keep your heart healthy, the American Heart Association advises eating a healthy diet, taking exercise and being aware of the risk factors, such as high blood pressure, smoking, drinking, stress, etc. Stress levels are very high among individuals due to vicissitudes of daily life while opportunities for pleasurable and safe physical activities are few. Greater consumption of fruit and vegetables, reduced consumption of meat with increasing preference for fish, choice of healthier cooking oils, etc. – all these changes are key to good health.