Even minimal doses of alcohol have a negative effect on the heart muscle, which manifests itself in rhythm disturbances, changes in the intensity of contractions, increased blood pressure and the occurrence of angina.
After myocardial infarction, coronary circulation is disrupted, which has a detrimental effect on the functioning of the entire cardiovascular system. Is it possible to drink alcohol after a heart attack and how much alcohol is harmless to health? Every person who has suffered an attack needs to know.
The effect of alcohol on the cardiovascular system
The effect of alcoholic drinks on the cardiovascular system (CVS) depends on the type and amount of drinking. Doctors assure that if you drink a glass of quality wine or 50 ml of cognac once a week, there will be no harm to your health. But if you abuse alcohol, ethyl alcohol will have a negative effect on all internal organs, especially the heart and blood vessels:
- The likelihood of atherosclerosis increases. Ethanol increases the concentration of triglycerides in the blood serum, and excessive acylglycerols contribute to the formation of cholesterol plaques.
- The frequency of myocardial contractions increases. If the heart pumps too quickly, the organ's capacity is depleted, increasing the likelihood of blood clots, heart failure, and a heart attack.
Negative effects of alcohol
- Blood pressure increases. Consuming a large dose of alcohol leads to a temporary increase in blood pressure, but if you drink too much, hypertension becomes permanent. High blood pressure contributes to the occurrence of atherosclerosis, hypertensive crisis, heart attack and stroke.
- Myocardial structures are depleted. Due to the harmful effects of ethyl alcohol, cellular metabolism is dysfunctional and protein synthesis slows down. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for the heart to pump blood.
- The heart rhythm is lost. Often arrhythmia appears even after one-time alcohol abuse. The development of arrhythmia increases the likelihood of stroke and heart attack.
On a note! If you drink 100 ml of dry red wine, after 15-20 minutes the blood circulation process is disrupted.
Red blood cells begin to stick together, resulting in clots that form blood clots.
Effect of ethanol on insulin
Is it possible to drink alcohol if you have diabetes? It's no secret that ethyl alcohol is poisonous to the body. It is especially dangerous for people suffering from diabetes. Insulin and alcohol are incompatible things.
Ethanol increases blood sugar levels and reduces the effectiveness of hypoglycemic drugs. Toxic substances have a negative effect on all organs, so symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, chest pain, bitter taste in the mouth, difficulty breathing, excessive sweating and rapid heart rate may occur. If medical care is not provided to the patient in a timely manner, the consequences of alcohol poisoning can be disastrous. The most common consequences in insulin-dependent people are tachycardia, coronary heart disease and arrhythmia.
Insulin and ethanol are an incompatible combination. It can lead to mental problems. The patient exhibits aggression and irritability, insomnia, fatigue and apathy. It is prohibited to leave the patient alone in this state, as he may have thoughts of suicide, which he is capable of putting into action. Abuse in diabetes mellitus can lead to auditory, visual and bodily hallucinations.
To prevent alcohol from harming your health, you need to drink it correctly. Strong drinks are allowed to drink 50-75 ml, and low-alcohol drinks 150-200 ml. If you have diabetes, it is forbidden to drink sweet sparkling wines, beer and liqueurs. These drinks dramatically increase glucose levels and lead to rapid weight gain.
If you have drunk more than the permissible limit, you should immediately rinse your stomach and intestines. To do this, you can induce vomiting and do an enema. The absorption of toxic substances in the body will stop. You should also take absorbent medications. You can drink activated carbon or its analogues. The drug should be taken according to the instructions. In case of severe alcohol poisoning, you should consult a doctor.
Abuse of strong drinks leads to many health problems. This is especially true for people who have suffered an acute form of coronary heart disease, stroke, or suffer from diabetes. To avoid serious consequences when drinking alcohol, you should know when to stop.
Can alcohol cause a heart attack?
Numerous studies and experiments have shown that consuming large amounts of alcohol increases the likelihood of angina pectoris and can also cause myocardial infarction.
Often an attack develops immediately after the onset of alcoholic excess. The danger is that many people are unable to recognize a heart attack and mistake it for another less dangerous disease, as a result of which they do not take appropriate measures. The situation is aggravated by the fact that, due to the analgesic effect of ethanol, there is often no pain when a heart attack approaches and, not feeling danger, a person does not call an ambulance.
You can recognize an approaching alcoholic heart attack by the following symptoms:
- increased sweating;
- drying of mucous membranes;
- weakness in the body;
- tachycardia;
- heartbeat disturbance.
Heart attack
The risk of a heart attack due to drinking alcohol is especially high in people who have already suffered a similar heart disorder.
Is it possible to drink alcohol after a heart attack?
Most doctors do not advise patients to drink alcohol after a heart attack. Even minimal doses of alcohol increase the risk of serious complications, including death, due to the following reasons:
- after a heart attack, the structure of muscle tissue changes - they become less dense. The effectiveness of contractions also decreases;
- fatty deposits begin to accumulate in myocardial cells;
- the structure of cells responsible for energy production is destroyed;
- foci of inflammation and sclerosis appear in the heart muscle.
It is also worth considering that alcoholic beverages are the main non-cardiac cause of arrhythmia, hypertension and cardiac ischemia.
Are there any restrictions after stenting?
People who have had a heart attack often undergo surgery to place a stent in a coronary artery because the procedure minimizes the risk of subsequent complications and improves quality of life. After the operation and subsequent rehabilitation, a person can return to their previous job, lead a more active lifestyle and engage in moderate physical activity.
Doctors warn that you should absolutely not drink for the first time after surgery, since even minimal doses of alcohol lead to dehydration and blockage of the lumen of blood vessels in the area of the stent due to increased blood viscosity. The risk of complications is especially high if drinking alcoholic beverages is combined with going to the bathhouse.
If a patient has recently had a heart attack and has undergone stenting, it is recommended to adhere to the following tips:
- During the first month after surgery, alcohol intake should be completely avoided;
- You can continue to drink alcohol only with the permission of a cardiologist after conducting a comprehensive examination and passing the necessary tests;
- if rehabilitation is successful, starting from the second month, 2 times a week you can take 100 ml of high-quality red wine;
- It is strictly not recommended to take alcohol simultaneously with thermal and physical exercise.
Quitting alcohol
What dose is considered low?
Due to the fact that the damaging effect of ethanol (the alcohol on which alcoholic drinks are produced) depends on the dose and frequency of use, doctors have come to the unequivocal conclusion: “Frequent consumption of alcohol (more than 5 times a week) causes irreparable harm to the heart .
It is necessary to take into account the detoxifying functions of the liver. If they are efficient enough to cleanse the body of alcohol toxins, and the patient controls the rate of alcohol consumption, then the doctor may allow drinking alcoholic beverages.
A standard dose of alcohol is the amount of drink that contains a volume of alcohol that is equivalent to 10 grams of pure alcohol. Example: 100 milliliters of dry wine (13% vol.), 30 milliliters of vodka (40% vol.) or 280 ml of light beer (4.5% vol.). This standard guarantees a low risk to human health.
What kind of alcohol is acceptable?
You can drink alcohol after a myocardial infarction, but the doses must be limited. According to most cardiologists, natural red wine is the most preferable.
The drink contains a large amount of antioxidants, so it has a less harmful effect on the body. But you need to remember that you can drink red wine only in the absence of other pathologies, such as allergies, migraines, and stomach ulcers. Another least harmful drink is high-quality vodka.
The most dangerous drinks for patients after a heart attack are beer and champagne.
On a note! Alcohol after a heart attack can only be consumed with the permission of a doctor.
Latest Research
According to a long-term study, the male half of the population who occasionally drinks small amounts of alcohol after suffering a myocardial infarction has a much lower risk of dying due to heart and vascular problems or other diseases that can arise with age than non-drinkers. About 2,000 people of various ages and gender took part in the monitoring.
According to the results of a study published by US specialists in the European Heart Journal, men with heart attacks who subsequently drink a small amount of alcohol daily have a lower risk of dying (by about 14%) and experiencing heart and vascular problems by 42%. The daily dose of alcohol when converted to ethanol should be 10-29 g.
According to one of the leading experts at the Harvard School of Public Health, Jennifer Peay, the results of the study are clear. Chronic consumption of alcohol in a certain amount reduces the mortality rate among people who have had a heart attack. The prognosis in this case is more favorable than with a complete abstinence from alcohol.
Jennifer Peay and other experts examined the medical records of 1,818 men of different ages who had suffered a heart attack, which they took from their database. They then tracked the dynamics of their disease over a long period of time. This is about 20 years since the first heart attack.
Interim information for this period was updated every 2-4 years with new data on the health status of patients, which helped to create a better and more detailed statistical picture.
In total, over the entire period taken into account by experts, 418 people died in this group.
The dossier of each group member included the following information:
- body mass index;
- nutritional features;
- human activity and physical activity;
- Lifestyle;
- general health of the patient;
- alcohol consumed and its quantity, be it white or red wine, champagne, beer or spirits.
All participants in the experiment, according to these data, were divided into 4 groups:
- not drinking at all;
- light drinkers (0.1-9.9 g in terms of ethanol per day);
- moderate drinkers (10-30 g per day);
- consuming more than 30 g of ethanol per day.
The study took into account all factors that could affect the state of the cardiovascular system.
It turned out that those men who drank between 10-30 g of alcohol daily in terms of ethanol had a much lower risk of dying from heart and vascular diseases than those who did not drink at all. Moreover, the type of drink does not matter.
Alcohol after a heart attack and stenting in an amount of more than 30 g, on the contrary, led to an increased risk of mortality, as in the case of complete abstinence. Even a single case of significantly exceeding the dose of alcohol can reduce the results of daily therapy to zero.
All the data obtained do not contradict the opinion of the European Society of Cardiology, since it also believes that if you drink 10-30 g of alcohol in terms of ethanol, then it is absolutely safe even for people who have had a myocardial infarction and suffer from other cardiovascular diseases.
If a man took alcohol in moderate quantities before the onset of the disease, then after it in limited quantities it will only bring benefits.
But in any case, no matter how a person feels after a heart attack, it is recommended to consult a specialist before using alcohol, since the studies conducted, according to Jennifer Peay, provide only a general picture.
The consequences in each specific case can be completely different due to the individual characteristics of the patient and his general health. And it is never possible to completely exclude statistical errors and errors, although these factors are so insignificant that they cannot radically affect the results of the study.
The symptoms of acute myocardial infarction are listed below.
However, the findings cannot be applied to women who have had myocardial infarction. But it is possible to roughly calculate the range of the daily amount of alcohol in this case.
This is about 5-14.9 g in terms of ethanol, that is, one glass of medium-strength wine, light beer in an amount of no more than 0.5 liters or a small glass of strong alcoholic beverages.
Acceptable doses for men and women
If we talk about the permissible amount of alcohol for people with cardiac diseases, then you need to adhere to this rule - 10-20 ml of pure alcohol per day is considered safe for the heart muscle. After successful rehabilitation, patients who have had a heart attack can drink the following amount of alcohol:
- 30-50 ml of strong drinks per day (vodka, cognac);
- 200 ml red wine.
It is worth considering that representatives of the fair sex have lower resistance to ethyl alcohol than men, so for them the permissible dose of alcohol is reduced by 2 times.
Important! Many patients are interested in whether it is possible to drink beer after a heart attack. Cardiologists advise avoiding this product. Champagne and sparkling wines are also prohibited.
Psychological factor
Many people who have problems drinking alcohol often justify their abuse by saying that alcohol is good for you in small quantities. Ethyl alcohol is a drug that, in terms of tolerance (the risk of addiction after several uses), is dozens of positions ahead of LSD and marijuana. Be careful even with small doses if you have noticed intemperance in drinking and have already suffered one heart attack.
Drinking alcohol after a heart attack is not contraindicated. BUT, if after drinking one glass a day you know that you won’t be able to stop, it’s better not to try at all. The graph of mortality in relation to alcohol consumed by people repeats the letter “U”. It is better not to drink at all than to drink excessively.
You can drink alcohol after a heart attack and stenting, but only in small doses. We hope you found the article interesting. Continue reading us to learn more about the benefits and harms of alcohol from trusted sources. We wish health to all readers!
Consequences of alcohol abuse after a heart attack
There is no need to completely give up drinking after a heart attack. But we must remember that both weak and strong alcoholic drinks in any case increase the load on the cardiovascular system, so their consumption should be limited.
In small quantities
How exactly a person drinks is also of great importance, because the same amount of alcohol can be drunk in a week, or at one time. For people with cardiac diseases, the second option is extremely dangerous and can cause serious complications, including death.
Doctors also warn that alcohol abuse increases the likelihood of exacerbation of cardiac pathologies, provokes the development of diabetes mellitus and negatively affects brain activity.
According to statistics, from 2010 to 2020, 30% of men and 8% of women died due to excessive alcohol consumption after a myocardial infarction.
Alcoholic drinks after a stroke
The question of whether you can drink alcohol after a stroke (or mini-stroke) is more controversial. The answer to it is largely determined by what kind of stroke a person has experienced: ischemic or hemorrhagic (this is determined by a neurologist based on a number of signs; currently, doctors rely primarily on computed tomography data). If the stroke was hemorrhagic, then you should definitely say “no” to alcohol, even if it is just a micro-stroke. It's all about the increase in blood pressure under the influence of ethanol (it is hypertension that most often leads to hemorrhagic stroke). Therefore, even a micro-stroke is a signal of danger, the first sign that it is time to radically change your lifestyle.
In the case of ischemic stroke or microstroke, everything is much more complicated. Its main causes are atherosclerosis and thrombosis, and alcohol in small doses helps prevent these conditions. However, it is possible that the first stroke or micro-stroke was caused by alcohol consumption (the main sign that allows us to draw such a conclusion is the amount of alcohol consumed recently).
In any case, you should definitely reconsider your attitude towards alcohol: now you can only drink in small portions, and nothing else. If a person gets heavily drunk, he runs the risk that a micro-stroke will develop into a major stroke, and the consequences will be very serious. In general, studies conducted among men who have suffered an ischemic stroke or mini-stroke show the same figures that are typical for a heart attack.
As statistics show, alcohol after a heart attack, stenting and ischemic stroke (ministroke) can be consumed (and even useful), but only in small quantities: no more than a glass of wine, a mug of beer or a glass of vodka per day (this dose is calculated for men, for women it should be even smaller). However, you should not start drinking for medicinal purposes: there are medications for this. Modern drugs cope with protecting the heart and blood vessels much better than alcohol. It will be optimal if you drink only on holidays, but in small doses.
The situation is even more complicated with a stroke . If a number of signs determine that he is hemorrhagic, then alcohol is definitely prohibited . For ischemic stroke, as well as for heart attack or stenting, a small amount of ethanol is allowed. In any case, before you start drinking alcohol after a stroke or heart attack, you should consult with your doctor. Only he will be able to take into account the state of your body and the compatibility of alcohol with the medications you are taking. Remember that his opinion in this matter should be decisive.
