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Health See other Health Articles Title: Increased Alcohol Consumption Linked With Changes in Cardiac Structure and Function Medscape... BOSTON, MA — Increasing alcohol consumption in elderly men and women appears to be associated with changes in the heart's structure and function, according to the results of a new analysis[1]. Women were more susceptible to the effects of alcohol, with investigators observing a reduction in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) with increasing alcohol consumption in females. Overall, greater alcohol consumption in men and women was associated with larger LV diastolic and systolic diameters and larger left atrial diameters. In the men, greater consumption was also independently associated with an increased LV mass. "We found that increasing alcohol intake in among the elderly is associated with mild alterations in cardiac structure and function," write Dr Alexandra Gonçalves (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA) and colleagues in their study, published online May 26, 2015 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. "In women, moderate alcohol consumption was associated with modest reduction in systolic function, potentially contributing to a higher risk of alcoholic cardiomyopathy, for any given level of alcohol intake." The analysis included 4466 men and women participating in the ongoing observational Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. The individuals, mean age 76 years, all underwent transthoracic echocardiography and were classified into four categories based on the amount of alcohol they drank weekly (nondrinkers, seven or fewer drinks per week, seven to 14 drinks per week, and 14 or more drinks per week). Among the participants in the analysis, 60% were female and 20% were black. For men, in addition to having a larger LV mass, greater alcohol consumption was linked with a higher E/E' ratio (a measure of LV filling pressure) and greater tricuspid annulus peak systolic velocity. In women, greater consumption was independently associated with lower LV ejection fraction and a "propensity toward worse peak longitudinal LV strain and increased time to peak longitudinal strain," report investigators. Regarding the differences observed between men and women, Gonçalves and colleagues state these cannot be explained by differences in age, body-mass index, or other factors, current antihypertensive treatment, systolic blood pressure, prevalence of diabetes mellitus or coronary artery disease, socioeconomic status, or smoking. "They also cannot be plausibly explained by sex differences in alcohol-intake reporting, as we observed consistent positive associations between alcohol intake and HDL levels, a biological marker of alcohol consumption, in both men and women," they add. As to why women seemed to fare worse than men with increasing alcohol consumption, the researchers point out that females are known to absorb and metabolize alcohol differently from men and to also be "more sensitive to the toxic effects of alcohol on cardiac function, developing alcoholic cardiomyopathy with a lower lifetime dose of alcohol compared with men." Related Links A Drink a Day? In Middle Age, it Might Lower Risk of HF: ARIC Moderate Alcohol Consumption Post-MI Lowers Risk of Mortality Cardiac costs of heavy drinking Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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