First, we devised a search strategy to retrieve relevant articles from PubMed. Next, we established inclusion and exclusion criteria to determine the eligibility of articles. Inclusion criteria encompassed articles that focused on ACM or the relationship between alcohol abuse and cardiac dysfunction, involved human subjects or relevant alcoholic cardiomyopathy is especially dangerous because animal models, were written in the English language, and were published within the last 10 years. Meanwhile, we excluded duplicates, case reports, letters, editorials, and reviews not specifically addressing ACM. We then proceeded with screening and selection based on the titles and abstracts of the initial search results.
2 Estimation of prognosis and risk factors in ACM
ACM weakens the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively, leading to heart failure. Because oxygen and nutrients cannot reach all areas of the body that demand them, symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath, and fluid retention develop quickly. Genetic predisposition and individual susceptibility play a role in determining how alcohol affects an individual’s heart. Some individuals may be more prone to the toxic effects of alcohol on their heart muscle. The primary treatment for ACM involves complete abstinence from alcohol or other drugs. However, some studies show that moderating alcohol consumption may lead to similar health outcomes.
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How we reviewed this article:
- That’s because vitamin and mineral deficiencies are more common in individuals who are chronic heavy drinkers.
- Even the recovery after abstinence of alcohol is hard to predict based on morphometric evaluation of endomyocardial biopsies [118].
- Because hypertension may directly contribute to left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, this may be a confounding comorbidity in persons who abuse alcohol, and it should be differentiated from pure forms of alcoholic cardiomyopathy.
- Excessive intake of alcohol may result in increased systemic blood pressure in a dose-response relationship, and this may contribute to chronic myocardial dysfunction.
Two independent reviewers assessed each article for relevance and eligibility for full-text review. Once the 15 articles were selected (see Appendix Table 1 for the list of included articles), we extracted and organized relevant information from them. According to current knowledge, prolonged and excessive alcohol consumption plays a significant role in inducing oxidative stress within the myocardium.
Blood Tests
- That scar tissue can also cause potentially life-threatening arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms).
- However, if alcoholic cardiomyopathy is caught early and the damage isn’t severe, the condition can be treated.
- Distilled spirits, such as vodka, whiskey, rum, or tequila, are measured as 1.5 ounces (44 ml) per drink, with a typical ABV of around 40%.
- In 1884, the pathologist and veterinarian Otto von Bollinger (Fig. 2a) described the “Munich beer heart” with fibrosis, hypertrophy, and fatty degeneration in postmortem cardiac tissue of alcoholics who consumed an estimated average of 432 liters of beer per year (Fig. 2b; [23]).
- In some cases, especially those that are more severe, heart failure symptoms and related conditions may develop or get worse.
- Acetaldehyde and free radicals generated during alcohol metabolism induce oxidative stress and inflammation within the myocardium.
In cases where the damage to the heart is severe, the chances of complete recovery are low. Once the damage is considered irreversible, it’s https://ecosoberhouse.com/ difficult for the heart and rest of the body to recover. Your doctor will also ask you about your medical history and drinking habits.
Therefore, we did not include medication use and alcohol abstinence as evaluation indices in this study, although these factors may influence all-cause mortality. One of the few papers analysing genetic susceptibility in ACM was published by Fernández-Solà et al[64] in 2002. He compared the prevalence of different polymorphisms of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene in 30 ACM patients and in 27 alcoholics with normal ventricular function. Furthermore, 89% of the alcoholics with a DD genotype developed ACM, whereas only 13% of those with an II or ID genotype developed this condition. However, this individual susceptibility mediated by polymorphisms of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene does not appear to be specific to ACM insofar as several diseases, including some that are not of a cardiologic origin, have been related to this genetic finding[65].
- The term alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM) has been widely used to describe a specific heart muscle disease found in individuals with a history of long-term heavy alcohol (ethanol) consumption.
- Elevations of the transaminases (GOT, GPT), especially a ratio of GOT/GPT higher than 2 might be indicative of alcoholic liver disease instead of liver disease from other etiologies [120, 121].