Numerous studies prove the adverse effects of high doses of alcohol (ethanol) on the heart and the system of blood circulation. They show an increased risk of atherosclerosis, ischemic disease, and heart attack and stroke. On the other hand, interesting reports about the therapeutic effects of small doses of ethanol on blood circulation and the health of blood vessels are constantly emerging.
It promotes overweight, which is unfavorable for the blood circulation system
It is paradoxical, but alcohol is considered to be an important factor of obesity, and further consequences of increased risk of atherosclerosis and its complications - ischemic and heart attack and stroke, One gram of alcohol containing approx. 7 kcal is a significant source of energy. It is believed that more than half of people suffering from hypertension 20-30 percent. Excessive kcal comes from alcoholic beverages.
Alcohol narrows the arteries
A large dose of alcohol causes chronic contraction of arterial muscles in the legs and arms (skeletal) muscles, brain vessels and most internal organs. The obvious result is arterial hypertension, which affects patients with ischemic disease and is at risk of a heart attack and stroke. . Although people who consume alcohol and are so-called exhilaration - the effect of the increase in blood pressure is perceived as natural and pleasant.
Ethanol destabilizes vascular reactions to changing blood pressure
Chronic alcohol consumption increases calcium uptake and lowers the concentration of magnesium ions in the blood. This increases the tension of the vascular walls and hypersensitivity of the vessels to stimuli that increase blood pressure.
Pathomechanism of cardiovascular complications due to alcohol
In long-term and high doses, drunkethanol threatens many complications of ischemic heart disease. Alcohol accelerates heart activity and increases the minute volume of the drawn blood, leading to hypertension and sudden increase in myocardial oxygen demand. And this provokes patients with ischemic heart disease and related coronary pain as well as the mentioned threat of heart attack and stroke. High doses of alcohol also lower dangerously the threshold of atrial fibrillation.
On the other hand, it preserves arterial walls
It has been shown that moderate alcohol consumption - up to about 2 drinks per day - inhibits age-related degeneration of the walls of blood vessels. To put it more precisely, such a dose prevents the arterial muscles from becoming fibered and stiffening. This allows the arteries to respond flexibly to the excess of pumped blood. The elasticity of the arteries reduces the vascular resistance of blood pressure and the effort and heart demand for oxygen. It also reduces the increase in systolic pressure thereby reducing the risk of heart attack or stroke. On the other hand, high alcohol intake (above 10 drinks per day, similarly to total abstinence causes the opposite effect with age - a 10-20-percent increase in the thickness of the vascular wall and its stiffening.
Alcohol in small doses has anticoagulant activity
Regular drinking of small doses of alcohol reduces the concentration of fibrinogen - one of the important components of thrombosis initiating infarction. However, large doses of ethanol act undesirably, i.e. exactly the opposite - blood-thinness. If it happens that the drunken alcohol is red wine, which contains a large amount of polyphenols (a plant-based drug substance) -
- an additional beneficial effect is added to prevent the platelets from sticking together. As it is known, the sticking of platelets is the most important pathological moment that initiates myocardial infarction and stroke.
Alcohol and arterial pressure
ALCOHOL HAZARDS THE CRYSTAL BRAIN
Alcohol degenerates the brain?
It is known that virtually every drink contributes to the "contraction" of the brain. This discovery is based on research carried out on a sample of 3 thousand. 376 people over the age of 65. Each of them was examined with the help of a scanner. Specialists are not able to say whether the stroke, the scars in the white brain substance, or the loss of its mass is worse, because the final effects of these three states are not fully known. It is also not known how they overlap. So far, many other studies have been carried out, the aim of which was to answer the question on how much the benefits of drinking outweigh the risk factors.
Or have we already had a stroke?
Not everyone knows that we often deal with the so-called a quiet stroke, which the patient does not know at all. It comes to him when the arteries supply blood to the part of the brain in which the blood vessels have been blocked. Any such stroke may damage the brain more or less, and in an extreme situation lead to death.
Alcohol has long been a recognized cause of increased risk of stroke.
The studies showed a clear relationship between the chronic consumption of significant amounts of alcohol - more than 6 drinks per day and the occurrence of hemorrhagic stroke. Unfortunately, with the high increase in ethanol dose, the risk of death in the course of hemorrhagic stroke also increases. In some statistical analyzes, the relationship between alcohol consumption and mortality of both men and women takes a linear character.
The effects of stroke do not encourage alcohol consumption
Post-stroke scars created in the white brain substance can lead to a reduction of intellectual abilities.
In addition to motor disorders (walking), and even lead to the fact that the patient is unable to fasten the shirt.
Or maybe alcohol in small doses prevents stroke?
In the popular press, it's easy to find opinions, as if from a branded alcohol advertisement: "Only a little more than moderate drinkers are 41% less at risk from non-smoking stroke!" ... Despite the relationship already documented - between high doses ethanol and the high risk of stroke and death - many doctors believe that drinking small amounts of alcohol protects against ischemic stroke. It is said that drinking alcohol in a very moderate way (eg 1-7 drinks / week) - reduces the risk of some types of stroke. The problem is that this mechanism is not yet properly documented.
So drink or not drink?
When describing the benefits of drinking small amounts of alcohol in the form of lowering the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, one should remember the potential risk of other diseases, such as liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, cancer, injuries, the probability of which increases significantly when drinking small amounts of alcohol but chronic. Therefore, it is difficult to recommend taking a certain amount of alcohol per day. However, with regard to hypertension, small doses of alcohol seem to work beneficially, reducing blood pressure and reducing the possibility of complications of this disorder.
Literature
1. Prevention of stroke in patients after ischemic stroke or an attack of transient cerebral ischemia
Current (2006) guidelines of the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association
Published in Medycyna Praktyczna 2006/06
2. Influence of alcohol on blood pressure and stroke frequency. Guide of the Doctor 1/2006
Dr. med. Teresa Kosicka Department of Hypertension and Vascular Diseases, Medical Academy in Poznan Head of the Clinic of prof. dr hab. med. Jerzy Głuszek Ph.D., MD Hanna Kara-Perz Department of Chemistry and Clinical Biochemistry Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Medical University of Poznan Head of the Department prof. dr hab. med. Lech Torlinski
3. Literature of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Portal - www.lapharma.info
