A new study suggests that heavy drinking may potentially increase the danger of heart failure to an individual, even if they're young and healthy
People who use alcohol without thinking are 70 percent more likely to have heart failure, according to findings that were to be shown on Tuesday at the American Heart Association's annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Lead researcher Dr. Isaac Whitman, an electrophysiologist at the University of California, San Francisco explained that the harmful effects of heavy drinking were particularly pronounced in young and middle-aged adults, and those people who were otherwise in great shape. However, the study did not provide proof that heavy drinking may cause heart failure. These findings suggest that younger adults should slow down on the booze, especially if they don't have anything that might lead them in developing heart disease, Whitman added.
In alcohol's case, Whitman doesn't think it's reasonable to say that anyone can abuse alcohol just because they're young and healthy. He also explained that someone may be hurting himself more than their older counterparts. Younger people always have more to lose.
According to Whitman, other studies have revealed mixed results for heart health if they base it from light to moderate drinking. For example, moderate drinking was found to help lower cholesterol levels; however chances of having irregular heart rate are also high.
Researchers studied the records of more than 858,000 California patients who were treated between 2005 and 2009. Patients' age ranged from their 30s to the 70s. Doctors had diagnosed almost 4 percent of these people as alcohol abusers. And the investigators found that about 12 percent of them developed congestive heart failure.
Alcohol abuse came out as a strong determining factor of congestive heart failure, even after investigators adjusted for other risk factors, like age, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and elevated cholesterol levels.
In addition, the authors of the study found that alcohol abuse was far worse for those who have healthy hearts who don't have other heart risk factors, Whitman said. He also added saying that if you are a healthier person, your heart is immensely more exposed to the toxicities of alcohol.
