- Two recent pilot studies in rodents have looked at the effects of alcohol on the heart.
- One study looked at how alcohol affects the heart in women taking estrogen replacement therapy, and the other looked at heavy drinking.
- The first study found that alcohol was more likely to cause heart problems in women taking estrogen replacement therapy.
- A second study showed that excessive drinking causes cardiac arrhythmia and found ways to combat it.
Many people believe that excessive alcohol consumption leads to liver problems, but in reality, alcohol can affect the body in many different ways. One of the more concerning effects that alcohol can have on the body is:
Researchers are continuing to look more closely at what happens to the heart when we drink alcohol, with two current studies focusing on estrogen and excessive alcohol consumption, respectively.
Although each study had a different focus, both showed the harmful effects of alcohol on heart health.
The researchers behind these studies recently presented their findings to the American Heart Association
None of these studies have yet been peer-reviewed, and the researchers’ findings have not yet been published in a scientific journal.
by
U.S. Government
The guidelines define one drink as containing 0.6 ounces of alcohol. With that in mind, one drink is:
- 12 ounces of beer (5% alcohol by volume)
- 5 ounce glass of wine (12% alcohol)
- 1.5 ounce shot of 80 proof (40% alcohol by volume).
The NIAAA also noted that nearly 1 in 4 U.S. adults report drinking excessive amounts of alcohol in the past month.
Drinking too much at once or too frequently
The first study compared alcohol intake in female rats who underwent induced menopause with that of female rats who received estrogen replacement. The study was led by researcher Syed Anees Ahmed, PhD, of East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
given that
When a woman goes through menopause, her estrogen levels drop dramatically, so doctors may treat her with estrogen replacement therapy.
In the study, the scientists removed the ovaries from one group of rats to simulate menopause and gave a second group of menopausal rats an estrogen replacement. They then fed the rats alcohol and compared the results after eight weeks.
The researchers measured the rats’ cardiac function using radiotelemetry, echocardiography, and molecular studies.
Rats given estrogen showed benefits, such as reduced weight gain and fat mass, but they also had higher blood pressure and reduced heart function compared to a group of rats that did not receive estrogen.
Additionally, they found that rats given estrogen had reduced cardiac ejection fraction, which could lead to heart failure. Rats given estrogen also had problems with circadian clock proteins, which could also lead to heart problems.
Although further research is needed, these findings indicate that women taking estrogen replacement therapy may need to be careful about their alcohol intake.
Saugat Kanal, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, led the second rodent study.
The study focused on the effects of heavy drinking on the heart.
Drinking alcohol frequently can
The researchers divided the mice into three groups.
- Control group
- Alcohol exposure simulates binge drinking and triggers HHS group
- Alcohol + Alda-1 group.
Alda-1 is a molecule that helps protect the heart.
The scientists gave two groups of mice injections of alcohol every other day for four days, and after they finished the alcohol exposure, they examined the mice using electrophysiological studies, calcium imaging, and biochemical arrays.
More than 70 percent of the mice in the heavy drinking group developed atrial fibrillation, in stark contrast to the mice in the Alda-1 group, none of which developed atrial fibrillation.
The researchers say the reason mice in the Alda-1 group did not experience Afib is because Alda-1 suppressed a stress protein called JNK2.
“This highlights the importance of educating the public about the serious, detrimental effects that excessive drinking can have on the heart,” Canal said. Today’s Medical News“Avoiding excessive alcohol consumption is the best recommendation for preventing holiday heart syndrome,” he advised.
Canal said they also plan to conduct further research in the future: “Studies using larger animals are also a future direction to translate our exciting findings into clinical applications.”
“The more you exercise, the more likely you are to develop heart disease,” says Rigved Tadwalkar, MD, a board-certified cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. MNT.
“These rodent studies paint a complex picture of how alcohol affects the heart,” said Tadwalkar, who was not involved in the studies.
“The estrogen studies call into question the assumption that hormone replacement therapy completely prevents the damage caused by alcohol,” he continued.
Tadwarkar also noted that the heavy drinking study “points towards promising avenues for future treatments to combat alcohol-induced arrhythmias.”
“These findings are important to our understanding of the condition, and we believe that the benefits of this treatment are significant,” said Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the structural heart program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California, who was also not involved in the study. MNT about their findings.
“We know that alcohol consumption can adversely affect multiple aspects of cardiovascular health,” he explained, “and these animal studies shed light on the molecular mechanisms behind the detrimental effects of alcohol in promoting atrial fibrillation, as well as its detrimental effects on menopausal women.”
Chen also noted that these studies highlight how harmful alcohol is to the heart.
“I advise my patients to limit their alcohol intake as much as possible,” says Chen, “and recent studies have shown that the more alcohol you drink, the higher your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.”
John Higgins, MD, MBA, a professor at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and a sports cardiologist, also spoke about alcohol consumption: MNTadvises:
“Pre- and postmenopausal women taking hormone replacement therapy should be cautious about alcohol consumption as it may contribute to cardiac dysfunction.”
Higgins also spoke about the American Heart Association’s
