Why you shouldn't drink vodka after a heart attack. Is it possible to drink alcohol after a heart attack? What the researchers say
Alcohol infarction or withdrawal syndrome is often diagnosed in people susceptible to addiction. Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages has a negative effect on almost the entire body, but the cardiovascular system and hematopoietic organs are most at risk. An interesting fact: pathology develops when a person stops taking it, perhaps trying to get rid of a bad habit.
The effect of alcohol on the cardiovascular system
There is a popular assertion among people that a small dose of alcohol has a positive effect on the body. This statement is erroneous, since regular use leads to the following clinical picture:
- Penetrating into the circulatory system, ethyl alcohol is excreted only after 6–7 hours.
- Circulation of the toxin provokes tachycardia and increased blood pressure.
- Blood thickening occurs, as a result of which the small vessels of the heart muscle suffer from lack of oxygen.
- Dystrophic changes occur, leading to necrosis of certain areas.
- The functionality of the heart decreases, fats accumulate in the myocardium.
- A weakened muscle cannot withstand the load.
In this case, the person who prefers to drink a significant amount of alcohol, even with a small ethanol content, is most at risk. For example, an addiction to beer leads to an increase in the amount of intravascular fluid and increased stress.
At the same time, loss of elasticity of vascular tissues, as well as thinning of the walls, is noted. Blood thickening provokes the formation of blood clots and cholesterol accumulation. To prevent the development of symptoms of ischemia, during the day it is allowed to drink any alcoholic drink in a dosage equivalent to 150 ml of dry red wine.
Can alcohol cause a heart attack?
The negative effects are due to intoxication with ethanol, which is present as the main ingredient in all alcoholic beverages. With regular consumption of alcohol, the component accumulates in the tissues, which provokes addiction to the toxic compound and adverse symptoms. But when you give up alcohol, the body feels the need for another dose. The absence of the usual amount of ethanol leads to a decrease in the functionality of systems, exacerbation of withdrawal syndrome and, as a consequence, to myocardial infarction. Often this condition causes death due to cardiac arrest.
What can you drink after a heart attack?
After being discharged from the hospital, you should not drink alcohol for the first weeks. Next, it is advisable to consult with your doctor.
A study was conducted in the United States that involved thousands of patients with previously diagnosed alcohol dependence and those who had suffered a heart attack. It turned out that people who take up to 30 g of ethanol daily are at the lowest risk. Alcohol abuse or complete abstinence more often provokes a relapse of the disease.
It turns out that you can drink alcohol after a heart attack if the patient’s condition is considered satisfactory, but in small quantities, giving preference to unfortified wine. For women, the dosage is less – up to 5–15 g.
It is better not to drink vodka or reduce its volume to a small glass per day. If you like beer, you are allowed to take no more than 1 bottle of 350–500 ml during the day (2–3 times a week). Light varieties are preferable. It is acceptable to treat yourself to a glass of wine. Exceeding the recommended volume provokes a second heart attack.
Can I drink after stenting?
As in the case of myocardial infarction, minor intake of alcoholic beverages is allowed, but with the permission of the doctor and in the absence of complications from other systems. Stenting for coronary artery disease is a surgical procedure aimed at replacing a damaged vessel with a prosthesis. Therefore, after implantation, libations are strictly prohibited for 3–5 days.
In the future, the patient may drink small amounts of alcohol. If the dosage is exceeded, relapses of the disease are likely, leading to the need for re-stenting or death. In the future, the patient may drink small amounts of alcohol. If the dosage is exceeded, relapses of the disease are likely, leading to repeated surgery or death.
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Medical research has proven that alcohol affects absolutely all aspects of human health. That is why drinking alcohol after a heart attack, stroke or any other serious illness without prior consultation with a specialist is strictly prohibited, so as not to cause more harm to the body or provoke a relapse. However, many patients are interested in what exactly is the relationship between a heart attack and alcohol, because many folk remedies promote the use of alcohol and claim that it is extremely useful for certain life systems.
Alcohol does not directly provoke the development of heart disease, but it affects the condition of the body as a whole. It often causes the development of cardiomyopathy, which is called alcoholic cardiomyopathy. The mechanism of its occurrence is not fully understood, but it has been proven that alcohol can trigger its appearance.
Another property of alcohol is to provoke fat deposition at the organ level. As a result, the patient is faced with fatty degeneration of the liver or heart, namely the myocardium.
It is also important to know that abuse of alcohol-containing drinks causes:
- arrhythmia;
- hypertension;
- angina pectoris.
All these diseases significantly worsen the condition of the cardiovascular system. With long-term alcohol consumption, they can cause quite serious consequences and complications, one of which is often myocardial infarction.
If the patient has any of the above diseases, then a large dose of alcohol will inevitably cause a heart attack. This is due to a sharp dilation of blood vessels, and then an equally sharp narrowing, and also a direct effect on the cerebral cortex.
The main danger of a heart attack during a state of intoxication is its painlessness. Patients suffering from chronic alcoholism often show signs of alcoholism only on the second or third day after the attack.
Important! Many folk tips say that a certain alcoholic drink can prevent the development of atherosclerosis. Some healers pin their hopes on wine or vodka. However, all these opinions are deeply erroneous. Moderate drinking of alcohol is not a cure for any known disease. It only provokes the development of new diseases. Also, you should not trust nutritionists who suggest losing weight with alcohol.
Is it acceptable to drink alcohol after a heart attack?
A heart attack is a very serious disease. After an attack, it forms a characteristic scar that does not disappear over time.
Doctors allow drinking alcohol after a mild heart attack, but in extremely small doses.
The main danger for a person suffering from heart disease after drinking alcohol is dehydration. This increases blood clotting and increases the risk of a blood clot. 
It is also very important to take into account the measures taken to restore the body during myocardial infarction. They may include drugs incompatible with alcohol. In order to determine whether moderate or small amounts of alcohol consumption is possible, consultation and permission from your attending physician is necessary.
Fact! American researchers have proven that the permissible dose of alcohol-containing drinks is 30g in pure form per day. This is equivalent to a glass of wine or 50g of vodka. All tests were carried out on men, so for women this dose should be halved. Exceeding the specified dose can cause irreparable harm to health.
Consequences of drinking alcohol after a heart attack
Just a few years ago it was believed that even a few grams of alcohol could be harmful to a person who had suffered a heart attack. Patients completely abstained from alcoholic beverages so as not to increase the risk of a recurrent attack. However, modern research has proven that there is a certain norm. If it is not exceeded, the risk of a second heart attack is reduced, although it is still present.
Exceeding the permissible limit can be extremely dangerous for patients with diseases of the cardiovascular system, since:
- blood pressure increases;
- heart function is disrupted;
- the overall blood picture changes.
Recent studies have proven that drinking alcohol within 30g of ethanol for men and 15g for women can even prevent the recurrence of a heart attack. However, before you blindly trust scientists, you need to consult with your doctor, who will be able to say for sure whether drinking alcohol is acceptable in each individual case. It is necessary to conduct a number of tests and take into account methods of restoring the body. Alcohol is also not recommended for patients who have suffered from alcohol addiction, as this may increase the risk of relapse.
Many people think that a glass of wine or beer, a glass of vodka or cognac will not harm your health, even if you have suffered a myocardial infarction and suffer from other heart and vascular diseases.
Experts had a different opinion on this matter several decades ago. But today, after research and monitoring the health status of patients over a long period of time, new data has emerged.
Is it possible to drink alcohol after a myocardial infarction or not?
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- Can give you an ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS only DOCTOR!
- We kindly ask you NOT to self-medicate, but make an appointment with a specialist!
- Health to you and your loved ones!
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 with 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.
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.
Alcohol after heart attack and stenting
It is believed that a person who has suffered a myocardial infarction once in his life must completely abstain from drinking alcohol for the rest of his life to maintain his health. But modern research comes to the conclusion that alcohol is even beneficial for the body, as it dilates blood vessels and improves blood supply.
It has long been believed that limiting the use of alcohol is one of the necessary measures for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Those who suffered a heart attack at least once in their life were prohibited from drinking at all, even in small quantities.
But today experts agree that two glasses of wine, 2 bottles of beer, a glass of cognac or vodka during the day have a more beneficial effect on blood vessels and the heart than the complete absence of alcohol in the life of a heart attack patient.
But this fact only works when the indicated dose of 30 g in terms of ethanol is not exceeded.
There are a lot of negative aspects of drinking alcohol, which is very dangerous for those suffering from cardiovascular diseases:
- increased blood pressure;
- deterioration of heart function;
- changes in blood picture;
It is worth noting that the daily dose of alcohol for women should be less - only 5-15 g in terms of ethanol. In any case, it is recommended to first consult with a specialist. After all, in addition to problems with the heart and blood vessels, a person may have other diseases for which drinking alcohol is strictly prohibited.
Therefore, experts today answer the question differently than they did several decades ago. In past years, they were categorical and completely prohibited drinking for men and women who had suffered a myocardial infarction at least once in their lives.
Nowadays, cardiologists agree that constant consumption of any alcoholic beverages in the amount of 10-30 g for men and 5-15 g for women leads to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases and.
Collapse
The most common cause of death for patients is a heart attack. According to statistics, about 4.3 million people die for this reason every year. As a percentage, this is 48% of all deaths among patients.
Based on the severity of the disease, people who have had a heart attack fear for their health more than others. Previously, experts believed that even a glass of wine or beer could cause a relapse, but now new data on this matter have appeared.
Ethyl alcohol in large quantities is unacceptable after a heart attack
Harvard School of Public Health Research
Ethyl alcohol is produced in our body every day in small quantities. Is it possible to drink alcohol after a heart attack? Ethyl alcohol in large quantities is unacceptable for people who have experienced a heart attack or other acute heart disease. This is too dangerous, the risk of a second attack increases.
On the other hand, scientists have concluded that small doses of alcohol have a positive effect on the heart and blood vessels after stenting and heart attack. They, instead of increasing, reduce the likelihood of relapse. To come to this conclusion, it was necessary to conduct monitoring in which more than 2 thousand people took part. The sample included men and women of different ages who had experienced a heart attack. Among other data, the following were taken into account:
- The patient’s lifestyle and general well-being;
- Daily physical activity;
- Body mass;
- Regularity of meals and diet composition;
- Amount of alcohol consumed.
Patients were divided into 4 groups (correlated with the amount of alcohol consumed per day):
- Abuse (more than 30g);
- Moderate (10-30g);
- Light drinkers (0.1-10g);
- Absolutely non-drinkers
The studies were conducted over a period of 20 years from the moment of the attack in each person from the reviewed groups. During all this time, 418 people died in a group of 2,000 people. Interestingly, patients who drank small doses of alcohol were 14% less likely to die, regardless of lifestyle and other factors.
Moreover, these people experienced cardiovascular diseases 48% less often than completely non-drinkers.
Small doses of alcohol are acceptable, according to research
What dose of alcohol is considered low?
“You need to drink in moderation. A measure is an ancient Russian unit of measurement, meaning 26 liters” - an old table joke.
All jokes aside, men who drink moderately are at lower risk than non-drinkers. This has been officially confirmed by the European Society of Cardiology.
It is useful for a man to drink two glasses of wine, 2 bottles of beer, a glass of cognac or vodka during the day. On average, for women the norm is slightly less (depending on the weight index). It is about 5-15g.
Attention! We are talking about the optimal daily dose of ethyl alcohol. The effect does not stack. This means that you cannot abstain from drinking during the week, and on Friday you can drink with friends “for all the missed days.” This will not benefit the body.
It doesn’t matter what kind of alcohol you drink: good wine or regular beer. The benefits of dry wine are an embellished myth. The key is ethanol and its quantity. Of course, this does not mean that you need to go and buy “hawthorn”
How do we explain the data?
Doctors are ambiguous in their statements. Everyone agrees that the positive effects of small doses of alcohol are partly due to vasodilation. After drinking a glass of wine, the blood vessels dilate, blood circulation flows unhindered, and a person feels a pleasant warmth throughout the body.
Psychologists focus on improving concentration and attention, reducing internal anxieties and strengthening social connections. The sum of biological and psychological factors reduces the risk of developing problems with the heart and blood vessels.
Contraindications to drinking alcohol
If you have had a myocardial infarction, most likely you are a man over 40 years old. Despite the fact that drinking alcohol in small quantities has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, you may have other diseases in which even a small dose can lead to irreparable consequences or worsening of the condition.
The most serious contraindication to drinking alcohol is liver disease (in the worst case, cirrhosis).
It is also necessary to completely eliminate alcohol from your diet if you have a stomach or intestinal ulcer or gastritis (in particular, alcoholic).
In case of disorders and minor disturbances in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, alcohol is not strictly contraindicated, but its use will cause severe discomfort and deterioration of the condition. Rely on how you feel and your doctor’s advice.
When can alcohol cause relapse?
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health (especially your heart). Abuse can lead to the following problems:
Pressure surges; Changes in the microbiological composition of blood; Pain in the chest area; The occurrence of arrhythmia. An experiment conducted in Canada showed that with increasing doses of ethyl alcohol consumed, the risk of stroke increases. A group consisting of men aged 35-79 years was studied for 11 years. The sample is not the most diverse, but the results are clear.
If a focus group participant has diabetes, the chance of having a stroke increases sharply (the same applies to people who are on an alcoholic binge).
The body of a young and healthy person will easily tolerate the effects of alcohol on the cardiovascular system, but people who have already experienced a heart attack are always at risk.
Heart attack survivors are always at risk
Large amounts of alcohol are especially dangerous for people who have been drinking it in high quantities for 10 years or more. They are at risk for cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Like other diseases of the heart and blood vessels, it is more often observed in men after 40 years of age.
First, a person begins to experience shortness of breath, then a deep cough (especially at night), and in progressive stages chronic fatigue and chest pain appear. This condition is unacceptable for heart attack survivors.
It is important to understand that small doses cannot lead to the above consequences. Above we talked about the normal dosage of ethyl alcohol per day.
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!
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Sudden death for coronary heart disease very often caused by another intake of alcohol. N.A. Mazur and T.E. Dobrotvorskaya (1973), N.A. Mazur and V.N. Zhukov (1976) established that among the provoking moments of sudden death from acute coronary insufficiency. in the first place is alcohol intoxication, in the second place is unusual effort or psycho-emotional stress.
Direct cause of sudden death with alcohol intoxication, ventricular fibrillation appears to be caused by an increase in the content of adrenaline and norepinephrine in the blood of alcoholics while simultaneously decreasing the content of potassium in the myocardial cells. The opinion of clinicians is confirmed by data from pathologists and forensic doctors, who note a high frequency of sudden death in alcoholics, especially when alcoholism is combined with coronary atherosclerosis, and death occurs at the time of the next alcoholic excess or the next day.
The provoking role is especially clearly revealed alcohol in the genesis of myocardial infarction in young people. Thus, among PO patients who suffered a myocardial infarction before the age of 40, 75% abused alcohol (M. Gertler and P. White, 1954). According to T. Vartio (1960), myocardial infarction in young people often develops against the background of alcohol intoxication; There were significantly more young people who drank alcohol in large quantities than older people.
Course of coronary heart disease in people who abuse alcohol, it differs in some ways. IHD affects relatively young people, mainly men, and people with manual labor. There is a clear relationship between the next intake of a large dose of alcohol and an attack of angina pectoris or the occurrence of myocardial infarction, and often an attack of angina pectoris, as well as an acute heart attack, develop on the second day after a pronounced alcoholic excess.
Absence critics to their condition, the euphoria and unfounded optimism characteristic of many patients with alcoholism (especially with the hysterical type of personality development), the analgesic and anesthetic effect of alcohol are the cause of the mild severity of the pain syndrome, and sometimes its absence during myocardial infarction. In addition, many patients consider chest pain a manifestation of withdrawal and try to relieve it accordingly by taking another dose of alcohol, which naturally aggravates acute coronary insufficiency.
What alcoholic drink can people who have had a myocardial infarction drink?
And the point, after drinking any alcoholic drink, is to say goodbye to life, it’s good when you condemn life, and not get another heart attack. After all, everyone knows that after drinking alcohol, the blood vessels first dilate, then sharply narrow, which puts a strain on the heart, since the heart has to strain in order to somehow push the blood through. after which the pressure rises, the heart begins to beat faster and another heart attack occurs.
Is it necessary to give up alcohol after a myocardial infarction?
Summary. Results of a 20-year study
Traditional recommendations for people who have had a myocardial infarction (MI) are to completely abstain from drinking alcohol. However, according to the results of a study by American scientists, published on March 27, 2012 in the European Heart Journal, those men who, after suffering an MI, did not give up alcohol completely, but continued to take it regularly in moderation, were in a more favorable position with respect to the risk of death from cardiovascular (CVD) and other diseases.
Moderate consumption means a daily dose of alcohol of 10–29.9 g, which is equivalent to approximately 1–2 glasses of wine. Drinking ≥30 g of alcohol per day was classified as significant by the investigators; those who received 0.1–9.9 g of alcohol per day were classified as light alcohol drinkers.
Jennifer K. Pai and colleagues from Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, examined data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPF) of 1,818 men who had a MI between 1986 and 2006. years; The follow-up period after MI was up to 20 years. During this time, 468 participants died.
After adjustment for other risk factors (including age, body mass index, physical activity, the presence of diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension, tobacco smoking, use of acetylsalicylic acid and drugs for the correction of dyslipidemia, as well as the presence and degree of heart failure), it was found that among those who moderately drink alcohol both before and after MI, the risk of death from all causes is lower than among patients who do not drink alcohol at all. With regard to mortality from CVD for moderate alcohol drinkers after MI, the trend remained and even intensified (Tables 1, 2).
Table 1 Mortality among persons who have had a myocardial infarction, depending on previous alcohol consumption
(compared to patients who do not drink alcohol)
Alcohol consumption level