Alcohol abuse link to heart failure risk

DRINKERS should not justify excessive alcohol consumption because they think it will be “good for their heart”, an expert has said after a new study found that problem drinking can increase a person’s chances of heart attack and heart failure.

Alcohol abuse has previously been linked to an increased risk of a number of health problems including high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and obesity.

But a new study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, has also linked drinking problems to a range of heart conditions.

Experts analysed data from almost 15 million patients in California – 1.8% (or 268,000) had been diagnosed with alcohol abuse.

The researchers found that alcohol abuse was associated with a two-fold increased risk of irregular heartbeat, a 1.4-fold increased risk of heart attack and a 2.3-fold increased risk of heart failure.

The study did not quantify how much patients drank - just that they had alcohol abuse listed in their medical records.

“We found that even if you have no underlying risk factors, abuse of alcohol still increases the risk of these heart conditions,” said lead researcher Dr Gregory Marcus, from the University of California in San Francisco.

“We were somewhat surprised to find those diagnosed with some form of alcohol abuse were at significantly higher risk of a heart attack.

“We hope this data will temper the enthusiasm for drinking in excess and will avoid any justification for excessive drinking because people think it will be good for their heart.

“These data pretty clearly prove the opposite.”

In an accompanying editorial, Dr Michael Criqui, also from the University of California, said that previous studies that have found a benefit from alcohol consumption in protecting against heart attack and congestive heart failure were cohort studies which tend to recruit stable, co-operative and health-conscious participants..

“Cohort studies have minimal participation by true alcohol abusers, so the current study likely presents a more valid picture of heavy drinking outcomes,” he wrote.