Alcohol-Induced Cardiomyopathy: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Abstinence is the preferred goal, although controlled drinking may still improve cardiac function. New strategies are addressed to decrease myocyte hypertrophy and interstitial fibrosis and try to improve myocyte regeneration, minimizing ethanol-related cardiac damage. Growth factors and cardiomyokines are relevant molecules that may modify this process.

Signs and symptoms

Thus, alcohol-dilated cardiomyopathy (ACM) is the result of dosage and individual predisposition [32]. 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.

How can I prevent this condition or reduce my risk?

Your healthcare provider will likely recommend that you also focus on improving your diet in ways that help your heart. This usually involves limiting your sodium (salt) and cholesterol intake and ensuring you are getting a diet that provides all essential nutrients. That’s https://ecosoberhouse.com/ because vitamin and mineral deficiencies are more common in individuals who are chronic heavy drinkers. Consider a heart-healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet or the DASH diet. As you reduce your alcohol intake, your provider will also treat your symptoms.

Diagnosis and Tests

  • Polyphenols of red barrique wines and flavonoids have been shown to inhibit endothelin-1 synthase [102] and PDGF-induced vasoproliferation thus also contributing to cardiovascular protection [103].
  • This usually involves limiting your sodium (salt) and cholesterol intake and ensuring you are getting a diet that provides all essential nutrients.
  • Furthermore, the complete clinical picture of alcoholic cardiomyopathy seen in humans has not been reproduced in experimental animals by ethanol feeding, even though various morphological and functional changes have been observed in such animals.
  • Other people are born with cardiomyopathy because of a gene passed on from a parent.
  • Although some authors contend that the initial event is the appearance of hypertrophy, the majority accept that the core event is the loss of cardiomyocytes.

Because alcoholic cardiomyopathy is influenced by how much alcohol you drink, lessening your alcohol intake can reduce the likelihood of developing the condition. You can experience heart failure if alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy is left untreated or worsens. Heart failure happens when the heart muscle becomes too weak and stops pumping blood normally. Most people who develop alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy have a history of heavy drinking—especially those who have been drinking heavily for 5 to 15 years.

  • Once the 15 articles were selected (see Appendix Table 1 for the list of included articles), we extracted and organized relevant information from them.
  • Measuring blood alcohol concentration in an acute intoxication gives baseline information but does not permit deductions to chronic misuse.
  • However, during the time that these haemodynamic changes appeared, some researchers identified a possible decrease in the ejection fraction and other parameters related to systolic function[32-39].

In general, alcoholic patients consuming greater than 90 g of alcohol a day (approximately seven to eight standard drinks per day) for more than 5 years are at risk for the development of asymptomatic alcoholic cardiomyopathy. Persistent DCM develops in only a small percentage of chronic drinkers, and the role of genetic predisposition, or the presence of synergistic cardiovascular factors such hypertension or arrhythmias in the development of alcohol-related cardiomyopathy, are not clear at the present time. Alcoholic-dilated Cardiomyopathy (ACM) is the most prevalent form of ethanol-induced heart damage. Ethanol induces ACM in a dose-dependent manner, independently of nutrition, vitamin, or electrolyte disturbances.

Acute vs. chronic

  • Myocytolysis progressively develops, disturbing the sarcomere contractile system.
  • At later stages, due to atrial fibrillation, thrombi are not uncommon in the dilated atria.
  • Indeed, the first account of the possible harmful effects of alcohol specifically on heart muscle was reported in the latter half of the 19th century.
  • In pathophysiological terms, heart failure in liver cirrhosis belongs to the hyperdynamic cardiomyopathies.

Ethyl alcohol has several detrimental effects on myocardial metabolism; nevertheless, the pathogenetic mechanisms of alcoholic cardiomyopathy remain uncertain. Furthermore, the complete clinical picture of alcoholic cardiomyopathy seen in humans has not been reproduced in experimental animals by ethanol feeding, even though various morphological and functional changes have been observed in such animals. It appears likely that the toxic effect of ethanol on myocardium is modified by other factors and that the “alcoholic” cardiomyopathy observed clinically in human patients is a multifactorial disease. Basing on epidemiological data, alcoholic cardiomyopathy represents one of the main cause of non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy in Western countries [5]. Similarly to alcoholic liver disease, the diagnosis of AC is still based on exclusion criteria; in particular, an excessive alcohol consumption can be evidenced in up to 40% of cases of dilated cardiomyopathy [6].

1. The Natural Course of ACM

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