Alcohol Abuse and Heart Problems/Disease Risk

According to the American Heart Association, excessive drinking (alcohol abuse) can increase the risk of heart problems and disease. This can range from heart arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) to a heart attack, depending on the individual and the amount of alcohol consumed. The symptoms of heart arrhythmia include palpitations, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath and possibly some chest discomfort.

First, drinking too much increases the levels of fat cells in the blood known as triglycerides. Heavy drinking over a period of time can also cause high blood pressure, heart failure and due to the increase in calories from alcohol intake, if you put on enough weight can also in cases of obesity lead to diabetes.

Binge drinking has on some occasions lead to strokes and sudden death from heart attacks (not to mention alcohol poisoning) the obvious reason being that the drinker, who doesn’t drink on a regular basis and generally gets drunk quickly, is taking in the alcohol in volume and their system, not used to this barrage, becomes rapidly overloaded with too much alcohol.

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