However, consistent heavy drinking strains those Alcohol Use Disorder protective processes — especially in your liver — making them less effective. Ultimately, your body can’t keep up with the damage to multiple organ systems, including your heart. Alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy is a condition where consuming too much alcohol damages your heart. That weakens your heart muscle, keeping it from pumping as well as it should.
Laboratory Studies
In some cases, especially those that are more severe, heart failure symptoms and related conditions may develop or get worse. Your healthcare provider is the best person to explain the risks and possible complications that you might face from this condition itself, related health concerns or any of the treatments that you will receive. As you reduce your alcohol intake, your provider will also treat your symptoms. This usually involves certain types of medications that treat heart rhythm problems or other symptoms of heart failure.
Cardiac Effects of Alcohol
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of MedNewsPedia. Over time, these mechanisms cause structural remodeling of the heart—dilation of the chambers and thinning of the walls—which defines the condition known as alcoholic cardiomyopathy. The enlargement of the heart is both a symptom and a consequence of this progressive damage. They commonly include fatigue, shortness https://ecosoberhouse.com/ of breath, and swelling of the legs and feet.
- The pathologic and histologic findings of AC are essentially indistinguishable from those of other forms of DC.
- Women also tend to absorb alcohol more rapidly and metabolize it more slowly, exposing their cardiac tissues to higher concentrations over longer durations.
- Your lifestyle choices can also worsen your condition, especially when you use substances that affect your heart, lungs, and circulatory system.
- Before delving into how alcohol damages the heart, it’s important to understand what the heart is supposed to do.
Histologic Findings
In many — if not most — cases, abstaining from alcohol can be enough to help people recover from alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy. In cases where people don’t recover fully by abstaining from alcohol, most people will still see noticeable improvements in their symptoms. In some cases, even just reducing alcohol intake to light or moderate levels can also lead to improvements. However, not drinking at all is still the best course of action whenever possible. Alcohol has toxic effects, but your body can limit the damage and break alcohol down into non-toxic forms if you don’t drink too much too quickly.
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That scar tissue can also cause potentially life-threatening arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms). The muscles that control the lower chambers of your heart, the left and right ventricle, are especially prone to this kind of stretching. These chambers are important as they do the majority of the work of your heart, with the right ventricle pumping blood to your lungs and the left ventricle pumping blood to your entire body.
Risk Factors of Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy
It usually develops after many years of heavy drinking—often defined as more than 80 grams of alcohol per day over a period of at least five years. However, susceptibility can vary based on genetics, gender, nutritional status, and coexisting medical conditions. The focus of this review is on the effects of alcohol on the myocardium and its role as a cause of heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy (DC). Interestingly, alcoholic cardiomyopathy often develops silently for years before symptoms emerge. This asymptomatic phase is particularly dangerous because individuals may not realize their heart function is deteriorating until they face a major cardiovascular event.
The most common symptoms include shortness of breath—especially during exertion or when lying flat—fatigue, and swelling in the legs, ankles, and feet due to fluid buildup. Patients may also experience palpitations, chest discomfort, dizziness, or fainting. These signs reflect a heart that is struggling to maintain circulation, and they can worsen rapidly without intervention. Data suggests patients with successful quitting of alcohol have improved overall outcomes with a reduced number of inpatient admissions and improvement in diameter size on echocardiogram. Some studies have suggested that even moderation of alcohol consumption similar outcomes as compared to abstinence.
When should I see my healthcare provider?
- Patients may experience guilt, shame, or denial, all of which can hinder adherence to treatment and abstinence.
- However, results from tissue assays have been shown to be potentially helpful in distinguishing AC from other forms of DC.
- Your provider is the best source of information and guidance, and they can connect you to other resources that can help and experts who can assist.
- Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a disease in which the long-term consumption of alcohol leads to heart failure.1 ACM is a type of dilated cardiomyopathy.
Advances in wearable cardiac technology may allow for real-time monitoring of heart function in recovering patients. These innovations offer hope not only in understanding how alcohol causes enlarged heart complications but also in developing smarter, more proactive interventions in the near future. Long-term alcohol abuse weakens and thins the heart muscle, affecting its ability to pump blood. When your heart can’t pump blood efficiently, the lack of blood flow disrupts all your body’s major functions.
A Look At Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy: Causes & Treatment
- Alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy can affect anyone who consumes too much alcohol, even those who don’t have alcohol use disorder.
- Certain microscopic features may suggest damage secondary to alcohol causing cardiomyopathy.
- Furthermore, alcohol can interfere with the effectiveness of prescribed heart failure medications, compounding the risk.
In general, most people who stop drinking alcohol will feel better over the next three to six months. alcoholic cardiomyopathy is especially dangerous because However, certain symptoms may start to improve even sooner, depending on treatments and the severity of your case. In more severe or complicated cases, especially ones involving surgery, some symptoms may not improve for even longer. Overall, your healthcare provider is the best source of information and answers when it comes to your recovery. Many medications can help in cases of alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy, treating the symptoms that happen because of this condition. Medications typically include beta-blockers (for heart rhythm and blood pressure issues) and diuretics (to help your body get rid of excess fluid and swelling).
Echocardiography is perhaps the most useful initial diagnostic tool in the evaluation of patients with heart failure. Because of the ease and speed of the test and its noninvasive nature, it is the study of choice in the initial and follow-up evaluation of most forms of cardiomyopathy. In addition, it provides information not only on overall heart size and function, but on valvular structure and function, wall motion and thickness, and pericardial disease.
Electrocardiographic findings are frequently abnormal, and these findings may be the only indication of heart disease in asymptomatic patients. Results from serum chemistry evaluations have not been shown to be useful for distinguishing patients with AC from those with other forms of DC. However, results from tissue assays have been shown to be potentially helpful in distinguishing AC from other forms of DC. Physical examination findings in AC are not unique compared with findings in DC from other causes. Elevated systemic blood pressure may reflect excessive intake of alcohol but not AC per se.