A vital organ, weighing 300 grams - the heart, pumps 7 thousand liters of blood every day, carrying useful substances, oxygen to all body systems. Stopping it makes it impossible for the body to continue functioning.

Knowing what state the human heart is in after alcohol, doctors recommend giving it up to everyone, especially people with health problems.

The impact of alcoholic beverages on the heart - what is the harm of abuse for a person

Canadian scientists set up an experiment on 3146 healthy people by offering them .

20% managed to complete this experiment without heart problems, and 80% of them developed diseases that lead to heart attacks, strokes, destruction of healthy body cells, deterioration brain activity.

Doctors, in the process of conducting these studies, found that short-term or long-term alcohol intake is a burden on the heart, leading to the development of such diseases:

myocardial infarction;
Heart failure;
Bovine heart syndrome - thickening of the walls of the organ, an increase in its volume;
Increased arterial pressure;
cardiomyopathy;
Arrhythmia;
Violation of the normal activity of the heart muscle;

Alcohol and the heart are incompatible things, while the doses and degrees of the drink are not important, this is a fact that official medicine confirms constantly.

Alcohol in diseases of the heart rapidly destroys the walls of the organ, contributes to the thinning or thickening of blood vessels.

Daily intake of alcoholic beverages ends with pain in the heart, memory gaps, sudden coronary death.

Drink a little alcohol or refuse completely - is there a difference in the load on the heart

For the heart, 50 grams of vodka is a blow, but if a person has healthy liver, she will cope with such a load for 3–5 years.

If the heart hurts after alcohol, the body gives a signal that it is necessary to completely abandon the use, reporting its problems.

The harm of alcohol manifests itself quickly in people suffering from diabetes, . The resulting heaviness in the heart after drinking alcohol suggests that the body cannot withstand such loads, adding new problems to the person.

The direct effect of alcohol on the heart leads to the following consequences and diseases:

The rate of circulation slows down.
The rhythm of the heart is lost - it beats too fast or too slowly.
The walls of the organ are strongly thickened or thinned.
There is shortness of breath, swelling of the legs, excessive sweating.

What if after drinking alcohol the heart hurts, colitis or feels heaviness

Alcohol, painful in the heart , affects appearance person, because main body for all systems instead of useful substances, vitamins and trace elements exposed to toxins, harmful substances of the decay of alcoholic beverages.

When the heart hurts after drinking alcohol, this is a signal of the beginning of the destruction of all body systems. Slowly or quickly this happens, depending on the amount drunk, the frequency of use, the strength of the drink.

When the heart colitises after drinking alcohol, it is worth starting treatment immediately. Since the myocardium of the heart has the ability to remember what happened to it, problems will recur after treatment.

Harmful substances from the breakdown of alcohol enter through the vessels into all body systems, killing slowly and painfully.

The heart of a person who consumes alcoholic beverages wears out 3 times faster than a healthy one, and if we are talking about alcoholism, he ages and dies within a few years.

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Alcohol regularly consumed by a person in any case affects the blood vessels. At the same time, there are quite a lot of opinions, even in the professional medical environment, about the negative or positive impact ethanol in this context.

How does alcohol affect the heart and blood vessels? How serious are the negative consequences for the body as a whole? How to reduce potential harm? You will read about this and much more in our article.

The effect of alcohol on human blood vessels

Fans of alcoholic beverages and ardent opponents are interested in the answer to this question: does alcohol constrict or dilate blood vessels? Numerous studies often show conflicting results, resulting in even experienced professionals not always able to clearly define the boundary between potential benefits and the harm of drinking alcohol for medicinal or recreational purposes.

How are things really? The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle. The process of the direct effect of ethanol on blood vessels depends primarily on the dose of alcohol taken, the individual state of human health, as well as the initial level of blood pressure in the calm phase.

It is worth noting one curious fact. Even though many people think certain types alcoholic products more useful for blood vessels, in fact it is not.

Naturally high quality and natural product, for example, good red wine or expensive vodka in this context is more preferable than low-alcohol drinks of dubious quality, which may contain various dyes, low-quality technical alcohol, preservatives and other little-known components.

However, after oral intake of any alcoholic beverage, pure ethanol enters the bloodstream. It is he who influences systemic circulation, penetrates into soft tissues and brain. The rest of the ingredients continue to be processed by the stomach and metabolized by the liver, kidneys, and also excreted unchanged.

What does science say about the mutual dependence of alcohol and vascular tone? The specific effect of alcohol on the human heart and blood vessels occurs in the following way. Immediately after ethanol enters the blood vessels temporarily go into an expanded state, mainly arteries and arterioles. The total duration of this kind of effect varies within a fairly wide range and lasts from a couple of minutes to several hours, since it depends on a huge number of factors, including external weather conditions.

After passing through the partial metabolism of alcohol, the cardiovascular system of the body starts self-regulation processes aimed at resuming the primary normal level pressure and pulse. In this situation, a so-called reflex spasm is formed, which is a fairly rapid vasoconstriction. In most cases, the feedback process is more pronounced than the primary expansion under the influence of ethanol.

How can alcohol be useful for blood vessels? Numerous world studies in the context of the effect of ethanol on the human body as a whole indicate that the use of strictly limited small doses of products can be an additional component of the complex prevention of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

What are the limits? Modern physicians have generally agreed that the optimal dose is one milliliter of pure ethanol per kilogram of adult body weight. Based on these data, it is possible to more or less clearly define relatively safe norms for the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

There will be no harm to the body if you drink 50 ml of vodka every few days, 330 ml of beer, one glass of dry red wine, or 30 ml of pure 90 percentage alcohol(not together, but any of the proposed drinks).

As you can see, the above-mentioned norms are very modest and in the vast majority of cases people exceed the recommended dosages, sometimes dozens of times.

What happens to blood vessels with constant alcohol use: consequences and complications

Frequent excess consumption of any alcoholic product can cause a number of pathological consequences for the body, both short-term and long-term. The most common problems:

Increase in heart rate. The excessive consumption of alcohol becomes main reason development of tachycardia, which in turn can become hazards potential development of myocardial infarction or stroke;

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Pathological increase in blood pressure. It is well known that when drinking alcohol, the vessels first expand, then sharply narrow. In the case of chronic alcoholism, such fluctuations have a clear Negative influence on the heart and blood vessels in general. Thus, in some patients, there is always elevated level AD, and also develops hypertension;
Violation of the heart rhythm. Toxic defeat peripheral vessels can also pass to the main veins with arteries. In parallel with this process, the formation of the pathology of the main heart muscle occurs with the development of atrial fibrillation, congestive processes and a significant increase in the risk of thromboembolism.

How to reduce the harm from alcohol?

This question worries many people who, for whatever reason, cannot completely refuse to drink alcohol, but understand the danger of it in relation to the cardiovascular system as a whole. Main advice sounds trite, but quite simple and clear. We need to drink less.

In any undertaking there must be a measure, and in particular this applies to regular use alcoholic beverages. Naturally, drinking alcoholic beverages within the established recommended norms would be optimal, but from a practical point of view, this is almost impossible. In any case, try to limit the amount of alcohol that you pour into your own body.

It is advisable to choose the highest quality products, without the content of impurities, alcohol of unknown origin, and it is best to purchase products with only one component, such as vodka, wine, cognac, moreover, of the highest quality.

Don't forget to eat well and in particular do not drink alcoholic beverages at the same time as medicinal substances and other components that can enhance the toxic effect of ethanol on human organs and systems (carefully read the instructions and labels for purchased products).

Article reading time: 2 minutes

The effect of alcohol on the human heart

Excessive alcohol consumption is a big problem for many industrial developed countries. Its harm was first known in ancient times. Many rulers forbade the use of alcoholic beverages, but the fight against drunkenness was not successful.

Alcoholism is actual problem and in modern times. According to statistics, more than 15% of adult residents of the CIS suffer from this disease. The risk group includes women and adolescents, among whom the percentage of alcoholics has increased dramatically.

Effects of alcohol on the heart and blood vessels

The effect of alcohol on cardiovascular system disastrous. After drinking, ethyl alcohol enters the bloodstream and stays in the vessels for about 6-7 hours. During this time, there are various violations in the work of the heart. Even if a person drank wine or beer, his pulse quickens, blood transports oxygen more slowly and nutrients to organs and tissues.

According to doctors, alcoholic beverages have a negative effect on the human heart system. According to medical research, it is alcohol that in 5–20% of cases provokes arterial hypertension, which is not related to other factors ( overweight, smoking, age, etc.). For example, French waiters are more likely to suffer from hypertension than men of the same age in other professions. This is because they drink more than 2 liters of wine daily.

The vascular system suffers from alcohol, which acts on it in two phases:

The first phase - ethanol dilates blood vessels.
The second phase - stenosis occurs blood vessels.

The first phase is manifested by a characteristic symptom - the skin on the nose and cheeks acquire a bluish-red tint. This is due to the darkening of the blood. In the second phase, due to vasospasm, blood pressure rises. Hypertension can lead to a violation of the functionality of the vessels, which is manifested by a cerebral or cardiac crisis.

The effect of ethanol on the myocardium

Alcoholic beverages do not cause temporary disturbances in the activity of the heart. Due to the regular intake of alcohol, an excessive amount of fat accumulates in the heart, as a result, the tissues become flabby. Because of this, the work of the myocardium is disrupted, which eventually ceases to cope with its functions, the likelihood of hypertension and atherosclerosis increases.

Due to the systematic use of alcoholic beverages for 2 years, the following symptoms occur:

painful and rapid heartbeat;
labored breathing;
heartache.

According to statistics, about 30% of alcoholics die suddenly due to the fact that their heart cannot withstand the load.

The reaction of the heart to different types alcohol is different. For example, after drinking carbonated drinks, a person gets drunk faster, as the gas accelerates the absorption of ethanol into the blood. As a result, the vessels are overfilled, and the load on the myocardium increases. If the blood volume of an adult is 4 liters, then after he drinks beer or low-alcohol drinks, this value increases to 5-6 liters. If a person often drinks alcoholic carbonated drinks, then the heart is in constant tension.

Violation of the functionality of the heart

Avoiding atherosclerosis will not work, even if a person drinks alcohol moderately. Any dose of alcohol provokes functional disorders myocardium:

Ethanol in an aqueous medium dissolves fats, provokes the adhesion of red blood cells (erythrocytes) and clogging of capillaries. After drinking alcohol, fats are deposited in the liver and heart.
The effect of ethyl alcohol on the heart is detrimental, it contributes to the development of arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy (primary myocardial damage). These pathologies provoke pain in the region of the heart, and sometimes its stop.
19 g of pure alcohol per day contributes to the development of hypertension. The higher daily dose the more dangerous the consequences.

The threshold for the harmful effects of alcohol is 150 ml of dry wine or 60 ml of spirits (for example, vodka).

Alcoholic heart disease

Not all people who regularly drink alcohol have heard the term "alcoholic heart". This disease, which doctors call alcoholic cardiomyopathy, develops with the regular use of alcoholic beverages in excess of the norm. Ethyl alcohol gradually damages the tissues of the middle myocardium.

In addition, the following factors influence the development of alcoholic cardiomyopathy:

frequent stressful conditions;
genetic predisposition;
malnutrition;
transferred infectious diseases.

On the late stage disease, a person can even die against the background of congestive or progressive dysfunction of the heart.

Alcoholic cardiomyopathy can develop even with small doses of alcohol.

Alcoholic heart is a dangerous pathology, which is manifested by the following symptoms:

At stage I, after 1–2 years of regular alcohol consumption, the disease manifests itself as an increase in and difficulty in breathing or a violation of the heart rhythm.
Symptoms of stage II can be detected while listening to the heart, the disease manifests itself in muffled tones.
Stage III is characterized by swelling, severe shortness of breath, a feeling of lack of air. At this stage, the processes in the heart muscle are irreversible.

It is important to identify the disease at the first stage and carry out treatment, required condition- complete abstinence from alcohol.

Pain in the heart after drinking alcohol

Many people who regularly drink alcohol complain of heart pain after alcohol. Then they begin to look for an answer to the question: “Why do pain after a glass of wine or a glass of vodka? Heaviness, tingling in the left side of the chest and behind between the shoulder blades indicates irreversible processes in the heart due to the intake of alcoholic beverages.

Ethyl alcohol changes tone coronary arteries As a result, potassium and magnesium are not properly distributed in the tissues of the heart, because of this, a person feels pain in the heart.

Pain may also occur on the second day after drinking alcohol. Then patients are faced with interruptions in the work of the heart (the heart seems to stop, and then beats quickly again), shortness of breath, excessive sweating, dizziness and fear of death. Heavy drinkers often have swollen legs and shortness of breath even at rest.

If your heart hurts after alcohol, you should consult a doctor, as angina pectoris or a heart attack of the heart muscle may manifest. Characteristic symptoms- aching or cutting pain in the region of the heart, which lasts about 1 hour.

Consequences of alcohol addiction

Excessive or regular consumption of alcoholic beverages is fraught with serious consequences:

In the representatives of the stronger sex, the face, arms, legs swell, the likelihood of blockage of blood vessels, bradycardia (slow heartbeat) increases.
The consequences of alcohol addiction for a pregnant woman are quite dangerous. If future mother regularly consumes alcoholic beverages, then intrauterine development of the fetus is disturbed. In addition, there is a risk of having a child with alcohol syndrome, which is manifested by various psychophysical abnormalities, outwardly this is manifested by spherical eyes, irregular shape skull, underdevelopment of the jaws, etc.
Teenagers alcohol addiction occurs 2-3 months after regular consumption. As a result, cardiac and vascular diseases. In addition, there is a destruction of fragile organs and a slowdown in mental development.
Due to the regular consumption of beer, mental and sexual development damage to the brain, liver and gastrointestinal tract.

Alcohol addiction threatens with dangerous diseases that are difficult to cure.

Prevention of alcoholism

Many people who are trying to deal with a problem are wondering what to do if they cannot get rid of addiction. This question is also of concern to those who wish to prevent addiction and related diseases.

Prevention of alcoholism is divided into 3 stages:

Primary. In patients under the age of less than average, anti-alcohol settings are formed. They are told about the harmful properties of alcohol, the possible consequences of addiction, so that a person has an alternative to the lifestyle that includes the use of alcoholic beverages.
Secondary. This stage is suitable for people who already consume alcohol. The patient is offered a wide psychological help: conversations with him and his relatives, meetings with former alcoholics, consultations with a narcologist and a psychologist.
Tertiary. We are talking about professional help for people who suffer from alcoholism.

Thus, alcohol has a devastating effect not only on the heart, but also on all other human organs. As a result of the regular use of even small doses of alcohol, the likelihood of atherosclerosis, heart attack, heart failure and other dangerous diseases. Only early prevention can prevent dangerous pathologies. That is why it is so important to form an attitude towards a healthy lifestyle even in adolescence.

What effect does alcohol have on the heart?

There are no such organs in the human body that would not feel the traumatic effects of alcoholic beverages. But most of all, alcohol affects the heart and blood vessels.

In cardiology, there is such a diagnosis - cardiomyopathy. It occurs as a result of toxic effects on the heart muscle with ethyl alcohol. This disease is accompanied by irreversible pathological changes, expressed by stretching and thinning of the muscle tissue that makes up the heart ventricles and atria, as well as the partitions between them.

As a result of stretching, these parts of the heart become:

very thin;
flabby;
muscles lose their tone and contractility;
the organ itself can no longer function at full capacity.

According to statistics, the presented disease has become a frequent occurrence today, and most often men suffering from alcoholism are exposed to it. The course of the disorder is most clearly manifested in those social groups of the population whose level of prosperity does not allow them to consume a sufficient amount of animal proteins, mineral and vitamin complexes with food.

Data have been recorded that such a change in the heart muscle is observed in half of the contingent that abuses alcoholic beverages, and this is not only strong alcohol, beer affects the heart in a similar way. The mortality rate for cardiomyopathy is up to 25 percent of total number cases.

The negative impact of alcohol on the heart

Cardiomyopathy develops slowly, more than one year, but its consequences can no longer be corrected.
First, a person:

sleep patterns are disturbed;
headache often begins to disturb;
cardiac arrhythmia appears.

Then others are added to the listed symptoms - shortness of breath increases, first with exertion, and then it manifests itself even at rest. Further, tissue edema joins, but they are by no means associated with the use a large number fluids are the so-called "cardiac edema" caused by a malfunction of the heart muscle.

Usually drinking people ignore the manifestation of disorder on early stages development, and soon it begins to progress rapidly.

Such patients are easy to identify even by visual signs that are common to a large number of cardiopathologies:

persistent hyperemia skin face and neck;
phenomena of cyanosis on the face - purple nasolabial triangle(including the nose);
vessels eyeballs dilated, the vasculature merges, there are yellowish areas on the sclera;
often there is an uncontrollable trembling of the hands;
behavior is characterized by motor and speech disinhibition.

The effect of alcohol on the heart and blood vessels manifests itself in a typical way:

there are sensations of difficulty in breathing and lack of air;
feeling of squeezing pain behind the sternum;
sleep patterns are disturbed;
worried about the heartbeat;
pouring sweat;
blood circulation of the upper and lower extremities- they become cold to the touch, often lose their sensitivity.

In addition, the functioning of the liver and kidneys is disrupted - congestive tissue edema appears.

These symptoms become permanent, they do not leave the person, even if he refrains from taking new doses of alcohol for some period.

The positive effect of alcohol on the heart

Studying the question of how alcohol and the heart interact, scientists came to the conclusion that ethyl alcohol can still have a positive effect on cardiovascular activity but only at a reasonable dosage.

However, it should be understood that alcohol is not a medicine, it is not a source of health even when consumed in moderation.

Ethyl alcohol formula

It is believed that at limited use dose of alcohol:

dilates blood vessels;
relieve spasm from them and improve blood circulation;
normalizes blood pressure.

A certain reference dosage that is safe for health is considered to be one that does not exceed the content of 14 grams of ethyl alcohol in a drink:

the beer dose is 360 milliliters for beer with a strength of 5 degrees;
the dose of vodka and cognac is 45 milliliters with a drink strength of 40 degrees;
the dosage of wine is 150 milliliters with a drink strength of 12 degrees.

Cardiologists, in order to have a positive effect of alcohol on the heart, consider it possible to use 2 alcoholic doses for men and 1 dose for women, in order to prevent cardiovascular disease. You can use them no more than once or twice a month.

The positive impact of reference doses of alcohol is as follows:

prevents the deposition of cholesterol in the walls of blood vessels;
has anticoagulant properties, thereby preventing the development of thromboembolism;
increases blood pressure with hypotension;
has a vasodilating and spastic effect on the walls of blood vessels;
enhances blood circulation, normalizes heart rate.

cholesterol in blood vessels

In order to use alcoholic beverages not only correctly, but with benefit, you need to know what to drink and for what purpose, to use correct dosages take into account the state of health, as well as not biasedly assess all risks.

The effect of various alcohol products on the heart muscle

Cardiologists often face a question from their patients about whether cognac is good for the heart. This strong alcoholic drink has long been famous for its tonic properties. A high-quality natural product has a positive effect on the heart muscle and vascular tone, if used without exceeding the norm.

Cognac tannins, combined with a bouquet of organic plant components:

regulate blood pressure;
normalize the number of blood platelets;
give cheerfulness;
tone the blood vessels.

Grape wines, and especially red wine, contain plant polyphenols. These substances also beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system with moderate use.

In addition, grape wine activates the process of hematopoiesis by liver cells. Herbal components of the drink reduce the risk of developing oncological diseases, and also reduce inflammatory processes, if any, in the body.

Wine made from grapes has proven itself as effective remedy to fight cholesterol, its small dosages will be a good prevention of atherosclerosis. With changes in blood pressure, wine will also beneficial effect especially red grape varieties.

Beer contains small doses of ethyl alcohol. Traditionally, it is drunk in our country more often than other alcoholic beverages, since beer products belong to the category of low-alcohol drinks. Distinctive feature beer is its pronounced diuretic effect, due to the ability of the malt drink to stimulate the kidneys and adrenal glands.

With a moderate dosage, beer:

lowers blood pressure during hypertension;
stimulates the urinary system;
tones the heart and blood vessels.

As for vodka, as well as other strong drinks, their use should be minimal, since the ethanol content in them is the highest. FROM therapeutic purpose to regulate blood pressure and vascular tone cardiologists recommend making tinctures based on vodka at home using medicinal herbs, flowers, berries.

The use of therapeutic doses of such tinctures has a remarkable effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Such medicines are added to tea from a few drops to 1 to 2 teaspoons.

Summing up

There is no doubt that alcohol affects the heart, but only our actions will show what this effect will be. Any poison is a medicine, and any medicine is a poison. It all depends on the understanding of a reasonable dosage.

In the presence of a culture of drinking alcoholic beverages, they can be beneficial and enjoyable. If this culture is neglected, the consequences will be sad.

Alcohol and heart. How to protect?

How does alcohol affect the heart?

In a word: bad.

On our website, using the links below, you can find a series of articles that are mainly devoted to describing various troubles for the heart and blood vessels that alcohol can cause, as well as sorting out myths about the beneficial effects of alcohol on the heart. At the same time, as usual, we did not try to scare anyone, but sought and found objective and fresh information, confirmed by scientific research.

What heart disease does alcohol cause?

There is such a disease as cardiomyopathy - a disease of the heart muscle, leading to heart failure. It is not treated, the disease can only be slowed down, but not cured. From the abuse of alcohol happens a kind of this disease, which is called "alcoholic cardiomyopathy". The mechanism of development of cardiomyopathy, unfortunately, is not yet well understood.
Also, the ability of alcohol, being in the aquatic environment, to dissolve fats, causes an increased deposition of fat at the organ level in the periods between intensive intakes of alcoholic beverages, which leads to the formation of such pathological conditions, how fatty degeneration liver and fatty degeneration of the heart (myocardium).
Alcohol can cause arrhythmias: irregularities in the rhythm of the heart. A person feels this as a frightening “fading” or “squishing” of the heart. This condition can occur unpredictably and be dangerous. Arrhythmia of the heart caused by alcohol, we have devoted a separate article. Also read a separate article on what to do if your heart beats strongly after alcohol.
The cardio school for doctors also points to hypertension (arterial hypertension). Studies led by Pearce and Furdberg (Pearce K.A., Furberg C.D., 1994) have shown that alcohol consumption itself is a risk factor for developing hypertension. Starting with a dose of 60 ml of pure alcohol per day, blood pressure rises in direct proportion to the amount of alcohol. And, again, the more alcohol is consumed, the worse the consequences.
And no, moderate alcohol consumption will not help prevent atherosclerosis.
And no mediterranean diet good not at all in small doses of dry red wine. A diet on beer or vodka is just an unhealthy fantasy of those who like to lose weight outside the box.

How to protect your heart from the effects of alcohol

The best option would be to know your rate of alcohol consumption and drink moderately, focusing on the figures of the maximum doses that we provide on this site, as well as pause between drinking alcohol for at least 8 days to allow the organs to recover.

Also, to protect the heart from the negative effects of alcohol, we can recommend drugs panangin or asparkam. Choose tablets containing 150-175 mg of potassium and magnesium aspartate. Two three-week courses per year will be enough ( better March and November) - 2 tablets 3 times a day after meals.

But what about the numbers?

A well-known meta-analysis in 2011 (scientists Ronksley, Brien, Turner and others, University of Calgary, Canada) shows that people who drink an average of 1-2 doses (30-60 ml) per day are less likely to die from coronary insufficiency than non-drinkers.

However, the same analysis indicates that people who do not drink at all or drink less than 30 ml per day have a lower risk of dying from a stroke. Secondary analysis shows that if we take mortality from all cardiovascular diseases in general, then absolutely non-drinking people will have a higher risk of death.

Do small doses of alcohol affect the heart positively? Perhaps this is due to the effect of hormesis. But! There is also another explanation: light drinkers are those who have not drunk themselves and have by nature better health so don't be afraid to drink. Non-drinkers are mostly those who have quit or are taking care of their health due to already existing diseases. As it usually happens, the correlation does not yet mean a causal relationship, or there is a relationship, but the opposite of what we want to see: if people who drink moderately are less likely to die from cardiovascular diseases, then it is not a fact that it is alcohol that reduces mortality.

How much alcohol will damage the heart?

Recommendations on the safe dosage of alcohol in relation to the heart are complicated by the fact that in the available literature it was not possible to find indications of the results of direct experiments to determine the threshold of toxicity (the toxicity threshold is the dose beyond which organ damage begins; for each organ it is slightly different) of ethanol as for myocardium and the heart as a whole. However, Pokhmelye.RF site expert Stanislav Radchenko was able to determine the numbers based on indirect data. Let's give him a word:

We will proceed from the knowledge that the ethanol toxicity threshold for the brain (mainly nervous tissue) is lower than the toxicity threshold for the liver (mainly epithelial tissue) by 4.7 times. The difference between the values of direct excitability of neurons and epithelial cells has the same order.

Considering that the destabilizing effect exerted by ethanol on cell membranes manifests itself primarily in the suppression of electrical excitation through them, we may assume that the sensitivity of a particular tissue to alcohol, other things being equal, depends on the direct excitability of this tissue. It is possible that under the conditions of a whole organism, the ratio of these quantities cannot be considered directly proportional, but, in any case, it represents a positive correlation with a coefficient close to unity.

Since the heart, as an organ, consists mainly of muscle tissue, and muscle occupies an intermediate position between the nervous and epithelial in terms of direct excitability, it will not be a mistake to assert that the toxicity threshold for the heart is lower than that for the liver, and higher than for the brain. More specifically, the resting potential of muscle fibers is 1.3-1.5 times higher (about 90 mV) than the resting potential of nerve fibers (60-70 mV).

Therefore, for an action potential to occur in muscle fiber it is necessary to depolarize the cell membrane by one and a half times greater than in the nerve fiber. Thus, as a first approximation, we assume that the threshold of ethanol toxicity for the myocardium is 19 × 1.5 = 28.5 g per day, which corresponds to approximately 90 ml of vodka or 220 ml of ordinary dry red wine.

However, some nonlinearity of our model is due to the fact that the muscle tissue of the heart is significantly heterogeneous. If the excitability of cardiomyocytes (contractile cells of the heart) is 85 mV, then for the nodal cells of the conduction system it does not exceed 60 mV. From this it follows that the sensitivity to destabilization of the membrane of those parts of the myocardium that are responsible for the generation of rhythm and conduction is closer to nervous tissue than to muscle. In practice, this means that the possibility of developing cardiac arrhythmias begins with approximately the same daily doses of ethanol that pose a danger to the brain.

It turns out that the toxic threshold of alcohol for the heart is two values: for the development of arrhythmia and the development of cardiomyopathy, different doses are needed. Modern practice in such cases, it focuses on the weakest link, therefore, recommended by the results statistical studies maximum dose of red dry wine in 150 ml(instead of 220) looks reasonable.

Arrhythmia after alcohol is a very common occurrence. Why it occurs, what to do in such situations, and why, on the contrary, some people have arrhythmia from alcohol - read about all this in a separate article.

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The effect of alcohol on the cardiovascular system

Many people who drink are interested in what happens to the human heart when drinking alcohol. People mistakenly believe that alcohol can prevent the development of atherosclerosis and improve the activity of the cardiovascular system. In fact, everything happens quite differently. The only exception is red wine - in small quantities it has a positive effect on the human body. This article is devoted to such a topic as alcohol and the heart.

Red wine contains a large amount of resveratrol, polyphenols, catechins, vitamins and trace elements. These substances are formed during the fermentation of grapes and have a powerful vasodilating and antioxidant effect. Ethyl alcohol in wine beneficial effects does not render.

How alcohol affects the cardiovascular system

Once in the body, ethyl alcohol quickly penetrates into the blood, where it circulates for 6-7 hours. The drunken person almost immediately increases the pressure and the heartbeat quickens. Alcohol and its toxic metabolites cause blood to thicken, making it less able to penetrate into the body. small vessels hearts. Myocardial tissues begin to suffer from hypoxia (lack of oxygen), which leads to their death.

The long-term harmful effect of alcohol on the heart and blood vessels leads to a persistent increase in blood pressure, rhythm disturbances and dystrophic changes in the myocardium. All this contributes to the development serious illnesses cardiovascular system, often leading to death.

How alcohol affects the heart:

causes tachycardia - a person's pulse can increase to 90-100 beats per minute;
raises blood pressure, contributing to the development of arterial hypertension;
disrupts the normal metabolism and blood supply of the myocardium, which leads to the death of cardiomyocytes and the subsequent development of dystrophic changes;
over time, significantly weakens the heart muscle, making it unable to perform its functions;
leads to the deposition of fat in the thickness of the myocardium, which disrupts its normal functioning;
causes the appearance of arrhythmias and cardiomyopathies, which are often the cause of cardiac arrest.

The heart of a person who drinks alcohol every day becomes flabby and atonic. It cannot fully pump blood, which is why it begins to contract more often and with great difficulty. It is especially difficult for the myocardium in the case of drinking a large amount of alcohol (for example, several liters of beer). In this case, the volume of intravascular fluid increases, and the load on the heart increases.

Alcoholic drinks have a detrimental effect not only on the heart muscle. There is a lot of evidence of the negative impact of alcohol on the entire cardiovascular system. The walls of blood vessels in an alcoholic lose their elasticity and become thinner, the endothelium is damaged - this is what happens under the influence of ethyl alcohol. Cholesterol is deposited on damaged vessels, that is, atherosclerosis develops. This, in turn, entails the development of coronary heart disease and other unpleasant diseases. This is what happens with long-term (over several years) alcohol use.

Important! A direct relationship has been proven between the amount of alcohol consumed and the damage it causes to the myocardium. A dose of alcohol equivalent to 150 ml of dry red wine is considered toxic.

Effects of drinking alcohol on the heart

The first sign of the harm of alcohol is the pain and interruptions in the work of the heart that occur the next morning after drinking. Unpleasant sensations can last up to an hour and be accompanied by nausea, dizziness, lack of air, and the formation of edema. When sharp pains behind the sternum, you need to see a doctor, as they can indicate angina pectoris or even myocardial infarction.

Almost all people long time alcohol abusers develop alcoholic cardiomyopathy (or the so-called alcoholic heart). The disease is characterized by a violation of the normal structure of the heart muscle. Patients develop shortness of breath, swelling, asthma attacks. In the absence of appropriate treatment, the disease progresses steadily. Alcoholic heart often leads to the development of congestive heart failure and death.

Other possible consequences prolonged drunkenness:

Fatty degeneration of the myocardium. As already mentioned, alcohol has a very negative effect on the heart. In fact, it is a toxin that kills functioning myocardial cells. After some time, on the site of the dead cardiomyocytes, adipose tissue grows, which does not have contractile abilities. This state called fatty degeneration.
Arrhythmias. Harmful effect ethyl alcohol is not limited to one myocardium, as alcohol also affects nervous system. This leads to malfunction of the heart. A person may feel frightening fading, squelching, or a sharp acceleration of the heartbeat. This condition is quite dangerous, because it can lead to sudden and unexpected cardiac arrest.
Hypertonic disease. It is characterized by a prolonged increase in blood pressure over 140/90 mm Hg. Pathology is especially dangerous with sudden strokes and damage to some internal organs.
Ischemic disease. The long-term effect of alcohol on the heart and blood vessels leads to the development of atherosclerosis and, as a result, to coronary artery disease. The disease can be manifested by angina pectoris (angina pectoris) or heart attacks. coronary disease drunkards, smokers, people with a burdened heredity and overweight are especially susceptible.
Cardiac arrest from alcohol abuse. It occurs due to a violation of myocardial contractility, due to ischemic damage or excessive stress on the heart. As a rule, occurs in chronic drunkards.

Unfortunately, the heart after alcohol undergoes irreversible changes that cannot be treated. So how to restore normal structure myocardium is impossible, it remains only to carry out symptomatic therapy, that is, to treat the complications that have arisen.

Recovery of the cardiovascular system after alcoholism

It is very important to properly restore the body after prolonged alcohol intoxication. As a rule, treatment includes taking detoxification agents, hepatoprotectors, nootropics, B vitamins and a number of drugs that normalize the functioning of the cardiovascular system.

The most important step is to avoid alcohol and eat a balanced diet. In order to correct protein deficiency, the patient should include more proteins and amino acids in the diet. To eliminate electrolyte imbalance, doctors prescribe potassium and magnesium preparations (Panangin, Asparkam, Magne-B6). Phosphocreatine, Levocarnitine, Trimetazidine are used as metabolic agents.

Also, the patient is shown beta-blockers. Drugs of this group are able to slow down the course of the disease and prevent a further increase in the size of the myocardium. When arrhythmias are shown antiarrhythmic drugs, with heart failure, diuretics and cardiac glycosides are prescribed. The treatment regimen is compiled individually, taking into account the person's condition and the presence of contraindications.

Advice! After a long binge or prolonged daily drinking, it is better to seek help from a doctor. He will prescribe drugs that will help restore the body and partially avoid negative consequences alcoholism.

In short: Alcohol can cause cardiac arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, fatty heart disease, and hypertension. Contrary to popular myths, alcohol cannot prevent atherosclerosis.

How does alcohol affect the heart?

In a word: bad.

What heart disease does alcohol cause?

There is such a disease as cardiomyopathy - a disease of the heart muscle leading to heart failure. It is not treated, the disease can only be slowed down, but not cured. Alcohol abuse causes a type of this disease, which is called “alcoholic cardiomyopathy”. The mechanism of development of cardiomyopathy, unfortunately, is not yet well understood.
Also, the ability of alcohol, being in the aquatic environment, to dissolve fats, causes an increased deposition of fat at the organ level between intensive intakes of alcoholic beverages, which leads to the formation of such pathological conditions as fatty degeneration of the liver and fatty degeneration of the heart (myocardium).
Alcohol can cause arrhythmias: irregularities in the rhythm of the heart. A person feels this as a frightening “fading” or “squishing” of the heart. This condition can occur unpredictably and be dangerous. Arrhythmias caused by alcohol, we devoted a separate article. Also read a separate article on what to do if your heart beats strongly after alcohol.
The cardio school for doctors also points to hypertension (arterial hypertension). Studies led by scientists Pearce and Furdberg (Pearce K.A., Furberg C.D., 1994) showed that alcohol consumption itself is a risk factor for developing hypertension. Starting with a dose of 60 ml of pure alcohol per day, blood pressure rises in direct proportion to the amount of alcohol. And, again, the more alcohol is consumed, the worse the consequences.
And no, moderate drinking will not help prevent atherosclerosis.
And no, the Mediterranean diet is not good at all with small doses of dry red wine. A diet on beer or vodka is just an unhealthy fantasy of those who like to lose weight outside the box.

How to protect your heart from the effects of alcohol

The best option would be to know your alcohol consumption rate and drink moderately, focusing on the figures for the maximum doses that we provide on this site, as well as pause between drinking alcohol for at least 8 days to allow the organs to recover.

Also, to protect the heart from the negative effects of alcohol, we can recommend drugs panangin or asparkam. Choose tablets containing 150-175 mg of potassium and magnesium aspartate. It will be enough for two three-week courses a year (preferably March and November) - 2 tablets 3 times a day after meals.

But what about the numbers?

A well-known meta-analysis of 2011 (scientists Ronksley, Brien, Turner and others, University of Calgary, Canada) shows that people who drink an average of 1-2 doses (30-60 ml) per day are less likely to die from coronary insufficiency than non-drinkers.

However, the same analysis indicates that people who do not drink at all or drink less than 30 ml per day have a lower risk of dying from a stroke. Secondary Analysis shows that if we take mortality from all cardiovascular diseases in general, then absolutely non-drinking people will have a higher risk of death.

Do small doses of alcohol affect the heart positively? This may be due to the hormesis effect. But! There is also another explanation: light drinkers are those who have not drunk themselves and have naturally better health, so they are not afraid to drink. Non-drinkers are mostly those who have quit or are saving their health due to already existing diseases. As it usually happens, the correlation does not yet mean a causal relationship, or there is a relationship, but the opposite of what we want to see: if people who drink moderately are less likely to die from cardiovascular diseases, then it is not a fact that it is alcohol that reduces mortality.

How much alcohol will damage the heart?

Recommendations on the safe dosage of alcohol in relation to the heart are hampered by the fact that in the available literature it was not possible to find indications of the results of direct experiments to determine the threshold of toxicity (the threshold of toxicity is the dose beyond which organ damage begins; for each organ it is slightly different) of ethanol as for myocardium and the heart as a whole. However, Pokhmelye.RF site expert Stanislav Radchenko was able to determine the numbers based on indirect data. Let's give him a word:

We will proceed from the knowledge that the ethanol toxicity threshold for the brain (mainly nervous tissue) is 4.7 times lower than the toxicity threshold for the liver (mainly epithelial tissue). The difference between the values of direct excitability of neurons and epithelial cells has the same order.

Since the heart, as an organ, consists mainly of muscle tissue, and muscle tissue occupies an intermediate position between nervous and epithelial in terms of direct excitability, it will not be a mistake to assert that the toxicity threshold for the heart is lower than that for the liver, and higher than for the brain. More specifically, the resting potential of muscle fibers is 1.3-1.5 times higher (about 90 mV) than the resting potential of nerve fibers (60-70 mV).

Therefore, for the occurrence of an action potential in the muscle fiber, it is necessary to depolarize the cell membrane by one and a half times greater than in the nerve fiber. Thus, as a first approximation, we assume that the threshold of ethanol toxicity for the myocardium is 19 × 1.5 = 28.5 g per day, which corresponds to approximately 90 ml of vodka or 220 ml of ordinary dry red wine.

However, some nonlinearity of our model is due to the fact that the muscle tissue of the heart is significantly heterogeneous. If the excitability of cardiomyocytes (contractile cells of the heart) is 85 mV, then for the nodal cells of the conduction system it does not exceed 60 mV. From this it follows that the sensitivity to destabilization of the membrane of those parts of the myocardium that are responsible for the generation of rhythm and conduction is closer to the nervous tissue than to the muscular one. In practice, this means that the possibility of developing cardiac arrhythmias begins with approximately the same daily doses of ethanol that pose a danger to the brain.

It turns out that the toxic threshold of alcohol for the heart is two values: for the development of arrhythmia and the development of cardiomyopathy, different doses are needed. Modern practice in such cases focuses on the weakest link, therefore, the maximum recommended by the results of statistical studies dose of red dry wine in 150 ml(instead of 220) looks reasonable.

Arrhythmia after alcohol is a very common occurrence. Why it occurs, what to do in such situations, and also why some people have arrhythmia from alcohol, on the contrary, goes away - about all this.

The article was last updated: 2018-12-16

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Many lovers of alcoholic beverages argue that their use in small doses is not only not harmful, but even beneficial to health, and the effect of alcohol on the heart in this case will be positive. Long time and the doctors talked about it. but modern research have proven otherwise. After all, even a single intake of a drink containing alcohol will increase pressure and have a negative effect on the vascular system.

Impact on the heart

After alcohol (at any concentration) enters the bloodstream, it begins to circulate through it for about seven hours. During these hours, the work of the heart worsens Because the pulse is elevated, the blood brings oxygen to the organs much more slowly. The blood thickens, as a result of which the vessels and capillaries break. After a few years of drinking alcohol, a person's nose and cheeks turn red due to broken capillaries.

Processes

The negative effect of alcohol is not only a temporary disorder in the work of the heart. With regular alcohol consumption, fat accumulates in the heart muscle, the muscle itself becomes flabby and weak. As a result, the heart cannot cope with the work of distilling blood throughout the body, the risk of hypertension and atherosclerosis greatly increases. The effect of alcohol on the heart and blood vessels is extremely negative. Several years during which a person regularly took alcohol, lead to such trouble, how:

Tachycardia
Dyspnea
Hypertension
Heartache
Stroke
heart attack

Statistics show that about thirty percent of cases sudden death are directly related to alcohol intake: the heart muscle simply cannot withstand the increased load.

Should be considered, that the presence of gas in the drink will accelerate intoxication, as the gas will speed up the absorption of the drink. All this will lead to overflow of blood vessels and a significant increase in the load on the heart. In the body of each person, there are approximately three liters of blood, and when taking, for example, beer, the amount of fluid in the body will increase to six liters. Consequently, the heart works in an enhanced and very stressful mode.

The left ventricle of the heart, which is responsible for pushing blood into the aorta, is overstressed, so the pressure rises, begins to develop hypertonic disease. This is followed by the development of atherosclerosis and ischemia. Diseases develop even with a small volume, but regular intake of alcohol.

Violations

Whatever the alcoholic dose, disturbances in the work of the heart are inevitable, since:

Alcohol getting into aquatic environment, begins to dissolve fats and causes clogging of capillaries and blood vessels, and red blood cells begin to stick together. As a result, fat is heavily deposited both in the heart and in the liver.

Alcohol will cause arrhythmia, and this, in turn, will lead to pain or, in the worst case, stop the activity of the heart muscle.

The systematic use of alcohol will invariably lead to hypertension, and the more often the use, the more severe the consequences will be.

Cardiomyopathy

Frequent use of alcohol will lead to a disease such as cardiomyopathy ("alcoholic heart"). Alcohol gradually but steadily begins to affect the tissues of the heart. The symptoms of the disease are as follows:

pain

The body points to the beginning various diseases associated with alcohol intake unpleasant sensations and pain in the region of the heart. This is what leads to heart pain in a person who drinks. . Such characteristic pains occur both during alcohol intake and the next day. About twelve hours after ingestion, a person may feel dizzy, cutting pain in the heart, shortness of breath, excessive sweating, anxiety and fear of death. The attack lasts about an hour, and it is at this time that the onset of a heart attack is very likely.

Consequences

The consequences of systematic alcohol intake are very sad:

Should be considered that any number systematically the alcohol taken is dangerous, but if it is not possible to completely refuse alcohol, it is necessary to know what dose will bring the least harm. This amount is for adult men - no more than two standard doses (in one day), for adult women - no more than one. A standard dose is a volume of a drink in which the alcohol content does not exceed fourteen grams. For example, the following drinks can be cited: beer with a strength of five percent - four hundred milliliters; wine with a strength of twelve degrees - one hundred and fifty milliliters, vodka with a strength of forty degrees - forty-five milliliters.

Combination with drugs

Often a person who consumes alcohol, feeling pain in the heart, begins to take pills or other drugs along with alcohol. You can't do that. First, alcohol will slow down the action light medicine. Secondly, alcohol, and if the tablets have similar action may develop heart failure and even death. Thirdly, anti-anxiety medications combined with alcohol have the opposite effect.

Heart recovery

If a drunk person becomes ill, then it is necessary to place him on a bed or sofa so that the person is reclining, open windows or vents for ventilation, you can give a very light pill, for example, validol, and, of course, call an ambulance. Naturally, the use of alcohol is excluded.

After undergoing the necessary treatment, the patient should continue to follow a healthy lifestyle - exclude from the diet fatty foods, perform feasible physical exercise take regular walks fresh air take medications prescribed by your doctor. Eliminate or minimize alcohol consumption.

The effect of alcohol on the cardiovascular system is strong and negative, so the best option for the heart is do not drink any alcohol at all. Statistics show that almost any way to deal with alcoholism is ineffective, so it is necessary to establish the right attitude towards alcohol and its consumption from childhood, showing the benefits by example sober image life. If it is impossible to completely abandon alcohol in the family, you need to instill a culture of alcohol consumption and promote strict moderation in this matter in every possible way so that you do not have to restore your own health later.

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