According to a study at the 2022 annual scientific meeting of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), some countries believe that safe drinking levels are actually related to the occurrence of heart failure Bethany Wong of St Vincent University Hospital in Ireland, the author of the study, said: "this study further proves that a more cautious attitude should be taken towards drinking alcohol. In order to minimize the damage caused by alcohol to the heart, if you don't drink alcohol, don't start; if you drink alcohol, limit your weekly drinking to less than one bottle of wine or three and a half 500ml 4.5% beer."
According to the World Health Organization, the EU is the region with the most alcohol consumption in the world. Although it is well known that long-term heavy drinking can lead to heart failure called alcoholic cardiomyopathy, evidence from Asian populations suggests that light drinking can also be harmful.
"Due to genetic and environmental differences between Asian and European populations, this study investigated whether there is a link between alcohol and heart changes in Europeans at risk of heart failure or Europeans with pre heart failure. The main treatment for this population is to control risk factors such as alcohol, so it is important to understand the level of safety," Wong said
The study included 744 adults over the age of 40 who were at risk for heart failure due to risk factors (such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity) or pre heart failure (with risk factors and cardiac abnormalities, but without symptoms). The average age was 66.5 years, of which 53% were women. The study excluded former drinkers and patients with heart failure who had symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, decreased exercise ability, and swollen ankles. The researchers used echocardiography to measure participants' cardiac function.
The study used the Irish definition of 10 grams of alcohol as a standard unit. Participants were classified according to weekly alcohol consumption: none; Low (less than 7 units); Medium (7 ~ 14 units); High (more than 14 units).
The researchers analyzed the relationship between alcohol consumption and heart health and reported the results of high-risk group and pre heart failure group respectively. In the high-risk group, deterioration of heart health was defined as progression to pre heart failure or symptomatic heart failure. For the pre heart failure group, deterioration of cardiac health was defined as deterioration of cardiac function or progression to symptomatic heart failure. These analyses adjusted for factors that may affect the structure of the heart.
There was no association between alcohol intake and moderate to high-risk heart failure. In the pre heart failure group, moderate or high alcohol intake increased the risk of deterioration of heart health by 4.5 times compared with non drinking. Low alcohol intake was not found to have a protective effect.
"Our study shows that in Europe, drinking more than 70 grams per week is associated with the deterioration of pre heart failure or the development of symptomatic heart failure; no benefits of low alcohol intake are observed. Countries should advocate reducing safe alcohol intake in patients with pre heart failure." Wong said.
Author: Wang Fang source: China Science Daily