Excessive alcohol consumption is dangerous to your health – something doctors have been warning about for a long time.
But what if we have a pill to counteract this damage?
Potentially, one day, there will be, according to new research.
A team from the Ohio State University College of Medicine investigated a possible way to prevent “holiday heart syndrome” – when people develop dangerous heart arrhythmias after drinking during celebrations like Christmas.
Study lead author Dr Saugat Khanal said: “Around holidays, opportunities for celebration – often accompanied by excessive alcohol consumption – occur over a brief period of time.
“Unfortunately, this sometimes lands partygoers, even those with no previous heart problems, in hospital with a racing heart or an abnormal beat.
“Repeated excessive alcohol consumption can cause serious arrhythmias.
“This includes atrial fibrillation (AFib), which is the most common type of arrhythmia.
“AFib can increase your risk of stroke and heart failure. About a third of new AFib diagnoses are related to alcohol use.
“AFib recurrence is common in habitual excessive drinkers.”
AFibis is an irregular and often very fast heart rhythm and can be caused by high blood pressure, sleep apnea, lung disease and more.
Excessive alcohol consumption – defined as five drinks in two hours for men and four drinks for women – also poses a risk of liver damage, digestive problems like pancreatitis and mental health disorders.
“The link between repeated binge drinking and arrhythmia at times of celebration is so well known that medical professionals call it holiday heart syndrome, caused by excessive binge drinking during the holidays,” says Dr.
“Our study in rats explored the mechanism of alcohol-induced arrhythmia and a possible way to prevent it in the future.”
Previously, researchers found that arrhythmias related to excessive alcohol consumption are caused by a sudden increase in a stress-induced protein called JNK2.
Excessive alcohol consumption among all age groups continues to increase. Our findings suggest that new drug development may be an effective anti-AFib strategy
Dr Saugat Khanal
This causes heart cells to mishandle calcium and fail, resulting in very fast or irregular heartbeats.
It was found that mice given alcohol to mimic binge drinking had twice the JNK2 activity.
But now, scientists believe that a new molecule called Alda-1 could help combat the effects of the JNK2 protein.
In the study, mice were divided into three groups; a group of holiday heart syndrome, mimicking excessive alcohol consumption in humans; a group that received alcohol plus Alda-1; and controls, who received nothing.
More than 70 percent of the rats in the binge-drinking group developed atrial fibrillation.
But in the group that received Alda-1, none of the mice developed AFib.
Dr. Khanal said, “Abstinence from alcohol can prevent most AFib risks associated with alcohol.
“Unfortunately, despite educational efforts at national level, excessive alcohol consumption among all age groups continues to increase.
“Our findings suggest that the development of new drugs, including Alda-1 and other JNK2-specific inhibitors, may be an effective anti-AFib strategy for people with holiday heart syndrome.”
The study was presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association.
“Studies using larger animals will be a future direction to translate our exciting findings into clinical applications,” said Dr. Khanal.
The harm of excessive alcohol consumption
The NHS defines binge drinking as “drinking a lot over a short space of time”.
More than 8 units of alcohol in a single session for men, or more than 6 units in a single session for women is the technical definition, according to Drinkaware.
This equates to about four liters of normal beer for a man or three liters for a woman.
When you drink too much, in addition to getting drunk, your heart rate and blood pressure increase. It can cause irregular heartbeats, known as arrhythmias.
Alcohol increases stomach acid production – causing nausea and potentially vomiting.
You are also likely to experience problems with judgment, coordination, memory blackouts, and poor decision-making.
This can cause accidents, falls, drowning and other errors.
In the long term, excessive alcohol consumption can cause acute liver damage and increase the risk of chronic liver diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Cardiovascular problems include cardiomyopathy – which occurs when the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently – and an increased risk of stroke.
Over time, excessive alcohol consumption can contribute to permanent brain damage. This can present as a mental health problem such as anxiety or depression.
Excessive alcohol consumption can also lead to alcohol dependence, or “addiction.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
