The Effects of Ethanol on the Heart: Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy

This personalized approach, guided by the lenvatinib resistance-related prognostic score, could improve therapeutic efficacy, reduce unnecessary adverse effects from ineffective treatments, and ultimately enhance clinical outcomes for HCC patients. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to an increased risk of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Additionally, alcohol can contribute to an irregular heartbeat, known as arrhythmia, which can be life-threatening in severe cases. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a type of heart disease that can result from chronic alcohol consumption. Experts do not know what quantity of alcohol a person needs to consume to develop ACM. They also have not identified the minimum length of time someone needs to drink alcohol before developing the condition.

Natural history and prognosis of alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy

In some cases, a pacemaker or other implantable device might be necessary to treat more severe heart rhythm problems. Alcohol has toxic effects, but your body can limit the damage and break alcohol down into non-toxic forms if you don’t drink too much too quickly. However, consistent heavy drinking strains those protective processes — especially in your liver — making them less effective.

• These impacts affect not only reproduction itself but also aspects of health influenced by sex hormones.
• Chronic alcohol abuse has been shown to impair the body’s ability to mount an immune response to certain vaccines, such as the influenza vaccine.
• Consumption of other drugs such as cocaine or tobacco may interact with ethanol and potentiate the final ethanol-related cardiac damage 22,72.
• Alcoholic cardiomyopathy affects the heart’s ability to pump oxygen-rich blood around the body.
• Therefore, because of its multiple actions, acetaldehyde may influence ACM pathogenesis in addition to ethanol effect itself 20,76,77.
• One of the few papers analysing genetic susceptibility in ACM was published by Fernández-Solà et al64 in 2002.
• However, it’s more likely to happen in people with alcohol use disorders or who have genetic mutations that cause them to process alcohol more slowly.

About Medical News Today

• While most people understand that excessive alcohol consumption harms the liver, the full extent of alcohol’s impact across the body remains largely underappreciated.
• Swelling in the legs, or peripheral edema, affects around 50-60% of patients with alcoholic cardiomyopathy.
• Though they aren’t causes of alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy, other lifestyle choices can make it worse.
• In severe cases, it can be life-threatening and require immediate medical attention.

The skeletal system, often overlooked in discussions of alcohol’s effects, experiences substantial disruption from regular drinking. Bone health depends on a delicate balance of formation and breakdown, a process alcohol directly interferes with through multiple mechanisms. The pancreas performs dual critical roles – producing insulin to regulate blood sugar and releasing digestive enzymes to break down food. Alcohol interferes with both functions through direct toxic effects and by promoting inflammation within this sensitive organ. Vaccines work by stimulating the immune system to produce a protective response against specific pathogens. However, alcohol can interfere with https://ecosoberhouse.com/ this process, reducing the effectiveness of vaccines.

What are the symptoms?

Given that PFKFB4 functions as an independent prognostic factor in HCC, we further investigated its role in lenvatinib resistance. We successfully established two lenvatinib-resistant cell lines by exposing the parental HCC cells to gradually increasing concentrations of alcoholic cardiomyopathy lenvatinib, designated as Huh7-LR and HepG2-LR. 11A and B, the IC50 values of lenvatinib for Huh7-LR and HepG2-LR cells were significantly higher than those of their parental cells. Lenvatinib-resistant cells exhibited a relatively higher colony forming ability (Fig. 11C, D) and anti-apoptotic potential than their parental cells (Fig. 11E, F) when exposed to equivalent concentrations of lenvatinib. These results suggested that the established LR strains could serve as a robust preclinical model for investigating the mechanisms underlying lenvatinib resistance.

Treatment Options for Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy

Chronic alcohol consumption can cause multi-organ damage including myocardial dysfunction. There are no specific targeted histological or immunological biomarkers for the diagnosis of alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy. Various pathophysiological mechanisms have been postulated in the development of cardiomyopathy however one key factor undergoing active research is the role of genetic mutation and susceptibility to develop cardiomyopathy. Doctors can measure your blood pressure and check for left ventricular hypertrophy on an echocardiogram. Consistently high blood pressure and thickened heart muscle suggest hypertensive heart disease, while alcoholic cardiomyopathy typically shows a weakened heart muscle. Regarding ICD and CRT implantation, the same criteria as in DCM are used in ACM, although it is known that excessive alcohol intake Halfway house is specifically linked to ventricular arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death71.

They try to control myocardial remodeling to avoid the progression of myocyte hypertrophy 39,148 or fibrosis 149 and ventricle dysfunction and dilatation, as well as to increase the degree of myocyte regeneration 150. They aim to control oxidative damage, myocyte hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, and persistent apoptosis. Pharmacological restoration of autophagic reflux by inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase has been described to ameliorate chronic ethanol-induced cardiac fibrosis in an in vivo swine model 151. In addition to these, stem-cell therapy tries to improve myocyte regeneration 112,152.

Prognosis

• The physical effects of alcohol are diverse and can vary depending on the individual and the amount consumed.
• Regular consumption above moderate levels consistently raises blood pressure through multiple mechanisms, including effects on the nervous system and blood vessel function.
• The heart output is progressively lower in a dose-dependent relationship with the lifetime accumulated total dose of alcohol consumed 38.
• Interestingly, angiotensin II administration induces skeletal muscle atrophy in rodents, and mechanisms include increased expression of the E3 ligases atrogin-1/MuRF-1 (70).
• A second set of studies that are quoted when addressing this topic are those conducted in individuals who started an alcohol withdrawal program21-24.

In severe cases, it can be life-threatening and require immediate medical attention. The physical effects of alcohol are diverse and can vary depending on the individual and the amount consumed. One of the most common and immediate physical responses to alcohol is a feeling of warmth and relaxation. This is due to the alcohol’s impact on the body’s temperature regulation, causing blood vessels to dilate and increasing blood flow to the skin. Treatments for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy aim to ease symptoms and to prevent sudden cardiac death, although it’s uncommon. Once free from alcohol, substance abuse treatment and medical treatments for alcoholic cardiomyopathy can begin.

Chronic liver disease, often caused by long-term alcohol abuse, is another risk factor. The liver plays a crucial role in metabolizing alcohol, and when damaged, the body is less able to process alcohol, leading to higher toxin levels that can affect the heart. Additionally, people with diabetes or obesity are at increased risk for heart problems, including alcoholic cardiomyopathy. Studies that have assessed the prevalence of ACM among IDCM patients have found high alcohol consumption in 3.8% to 47% of DCM patients. The lowest prevalence of ACM among DCM (3.8%) was obtained from a series of 673 patients admitted to hospital consecutively due to HF in the state of Maryland27.

It results from the heart’s inability to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. When the heart is weakened by alcohol-induced damage, less oxygen-rich blood reaches the muscles and organs, leading to exhaustion and reduced energy levels. Fatigue can also be worsened by poor sleep quality due to symptoms like shortness of breath or chest discomfort. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy is a form of dilated cardiomyopathy, where the heart’s chambers enlarge and weaken due to alcohol’s toxic effects on the heart muscle. Over time, the heart struggles to pump blood efficiently, leading to symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, and leg swelling.

Acknowledgments

Moreover, myofibrils showed a progressively distorted structure, resulting in a homogeneous mass. Myocardial impairment following chronic excessive alcohol intake has been evaluated using echocardiographic and haemodynamic measurements in a significant number of reports. In these studies, haemodynamic and echocardiographic parameters were measured in individuals starting an alcohol withdrawal program. The findings were analysed taking into account the amount and chronicity of intake and they were compared with the same parameters measured in a control group of non-drinkers.