Alcoholic beverages may be more dangerous to the heart than previously thought. According to the European Society of Cardiology, the levels of alcohol consumption currently recommended by health authorities in some countries are associated with the development of heart failure.
- The average age of the participants was 66 years old and 53% were women.
- The study excluded former drinkers and heart failure patients with symptoms.
- Compared to the low drinking group, adults who had moderate or high drinking were younger, more often male, and had a higher body mass index.
Drinking alcohol even in moderation increases the risk of heart disease. This was revealed work presented at Heart Failure 2022a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology. “This study adds to the body of evidence indicating that a more cautious approach to alcohol consumption is needed,” said Bethany Wong, author of the research.
Data from Asian populations suggests that lower amounts of alcohol may be detrimental to cardiovascular health. As part of this study, researchers at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin (Ireland) tried to find out if there was an association, similar to that observed in Asia, between alcohol and heart changes in Europeans. .
An aggravated heart risk of 4.5 times more due to alcohol
The work involved 744 adults over the age of 40, either at risk of developing heart failure due to risk factors (e.g. high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity) or with pre-heart failure (risk factors and heart abnormalities but no symptoms). Cardiac function was measured by echocardiography at the start of the study and during the five-year follow-up. Participants were categorized according to their weekly alcohol consumption (none, low, moderate, high).
A total of 201 patients reported not consuming alcohol, while 356 were light consumers and 187 had moderate or heavy consumption. In the group of people with pre-heart failure, compared to the group of people who did not drink alcohol, moderate or heavy drinking was associated with a 4.5 times higher risk of worsening heart health . According to the authors, this association was also observed when moderate and high levels were analyzed separately.
Less than a bottle of wine per week to minimize the effects of alcohol on the heart
“Our study suggests that drinking more than 70g of alcohol per week is associated with worsening of pre-heart failure or progression to symptomatic heart failure in Europeans. Our results indicate that countries should advocate lower levels of alcohol consumption for pre-heart failure patients,” clarified Bethany Wong. The researcher added that people who do not drink alcohol should not start doing so to maintain their cardiovascular health. “If you drink, limit your weekly consumption to less than one bottle of wine or less than three and a half 500ml cans of 4.5% beer,” she continued.