People who abuse alcoholic beverages can dramatically increase the risk of heart failure even if they are young and healthy , concludes the latest study by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (USA).
According to the work, heavy drinking can increase the chances of heart failure by up to 70%; in fact, the most damaging effects were most pronounced in young adults and middle-aged adults, all of them in good health and without risk factors for heart disease .
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To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed the records of more than 858,000 patients treated in California between 2005 and 2009 with an age range between 30 and 70 years. 4% were diagnosed as heavy drinkers and approximately 12% developed congestive heart failure, alcohol abuse being an excellent predictor of this pathology , even after adjusting for other risk factors such as age, diabetes, smoking, blood pressure or cholesterol levels.
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“ In the case of alcohol, I don’t think it is wise to say that I can abuse alcohol because I am young and healthy. You may be doing yourself more harm compared to older people. We have more to lose . If you are a healthy person, your heart is disproportionately more susceptible to the toxic effects of alcohol because, if your heart is diseased, the added toxicity of alcohol may not have an excessive impact, “explains Isaac Whitman, leader of the study.
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In light of the results, the researchers state that drinking a drink from time to time can bring us positive effects, it is clear that alcohol abuse is tremendously detrimental to the health of our heart.
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The study was presented at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando.
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