Currently, the Government recommends you do not drink more than fourteen units of alcohol per week. This is because alcohol is linked to a variety of fatal health problems such as cancer, liver damage and heart disease.
Although the Government recommends you do not drink more than fourteen units per week, the Government also stresses that the concept of ‘healthy drinking’ does not exist, even if you drink less than fourteen units of alcohol per day.
In this blog post, we specifically examine the causal relationship between excessive alcohol consumption and heart disease.
Shockingly, whilst many people are aware of the link between excessive alcohol consumption of illnesses such as diabetes and liver disease, most are not aware that consuming excessive amounts of alcohol increasing the risk of heart disease.
In one study conducted at the University of California, experts found that clients suffering from problem drinking were twice as likely to also experience an irregular heartbeat, and 1.4 times more likely to suffer from a heart attack compared to those who did not suffer from problem drinking.
The lead researcher, Dr Gregory Marcus, said: ” “We found that even if you have no underlying risk factors, abuse of alcohol still increases the risk of these heart conditions. We were somewhat surprised to find those diagnosed with some form of alcohol abuse were at significantly higher risk of a heart attack. We hope this data will temper the enthusiasm for drinking in excess and will avoid any justification for excessive drinking because people think it will be good for their heart. This data pretty clearly proves the opposite.”
Conflicting messages
Some studies in the past have claimed that moderate drinking is beneficial for the heart. However, the medical community now refutes these studies, claiming many of these studies were funded by the alcohol industry.
Many of these older studies were skewed because they only analysed people who did not drink any alcohol at all. ‘True’ problem drinkers were not representative in these older studies. The paper here is thus more representative of the true drinking habits of the wider population.
Sarah Toule from the World Cancer Research Fund said: “This adds to the evidence that any health benefit people think alcohol may have is outweighed by its dangerous effects. For example, when it comes to cancer prevention, any amount of alcohol, not just heavy drinking, increases people’s risk of developing a number of common cancers, including breast and bowel. In fact, if no one drank, about 21,000 cancers cases could be prevented every year in the UK”.
Getting help now
Cassiobury Court is a 21-bedroom drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic in London. To discover how we may help you in your recovery quest, contact us today on 01923 369 161, or alternatively, contact us through this website.
At Cassiobury Court, we treat a variety of addictions. This includes addiction to drugs and alcohol. We apply a holistic and 12-step approach to addiction treatment in London.
