Young binge drinkers may be on the road to heart disease

Teens and young adults who binge drink in college may be raising their risks of cardiovascular disease later in life, a U.S. researcher says. Shane Phillips of the University of Illinois at Chicago looked for early signs of heart disease by comparing 19 binge drinkers to 17 non-drinkers ages 18-25. "Even though these individuals are young and healthy and don't have any other overt cardiovascular signs of disease, these data would suggest they may be on the road to developing problems," Phillips said in a statement. Phillips examined the ability of small blood vessels such as those in the arm to dilate, or widen. Reduction in dilating is a sign of an early tendency toward heart disease. Phillips found changes in the binge drinker group. The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found the binge drinkers had a reduction in the ability of the main artery of the upper arm to respond to stress-induced increased blood flow by widening, as compared to their non-drinking peers. Binge drinking was defined as consuming five or more standard alcoholic drinks within 2 hours for men, and four or more standard drinks within 2 hours for women. Binge drinkers in the study averaged four years of binge-drinking behavior and had an average of six binge-drinking episodes within the past month, Phillips said

Alcohol used to induce heart attack to save man's life (UK)

Doctors saved a patient's life by inducing a controlled heart attack using neat alcohol to kill off an area of muscle. Ronald Aldom, 77, was suffering from a life threatening heart rhythm called ventricular tachycardia (VT) - which occurred as a result of a previous heart attack. A team of surgeons tried to treat the condition using standard procedures but were unable to safely perform them. The team decided to treat Mr Aldom, from Portishead near Bristol, with "ethanol ablation". The treatment has only been conducted a handful of times in the UK to treat VT, Dr Johnson said. The procedure involves passing a catheter to the heart from the groin which identifies which part of the heart the dangerous rhythms are coming from. A tiny balloon is then blown up in the heart artery supplying that area and a small amount of absolute alcohol is injected into the artery to produce a small controlled heart attack. This kills the area of the heart muscle causing the problem allowing the heart's rhythm to return to normal

Binge drinking 'doubles heart risk'

"Binge drinkers have a risk of heart disease twice that of people who consume the same amount of alcohol but more steadily, researchers say. The study compared 10,000 male drinkers from "booze-bingeing" Belfast and "moderate" France over 10 years. It concluded that downing lots of alcohol in one or two sessions is worse than drinking more regularly in a week. Experts said the British Medical Journal work reinforced what was known but was a wake-up call for bingers."

Smoking, drinking, lack of exercise interact with genes to increase risk of hypertension

Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and lack of exercise can interact with genes to influence a person's risk of developing high blood pressure, according to a report published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics. "The three lifestyle characteristics are well-known risk factors for high blood pressure," said Nora Franceschini, M.D, lead author of the study and assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. "What's new is that we are showing that these behaviors interact with your genes to influence blood pressure levels" - AHA

Binge drinking linked to stroke in men (Korea)

Binge drinking - six or more alcoholic drinks at one occasion at lease once a week - is linked with stroke in South Korean men, researchers said. In the study, binge drinkers were defined as men who drank six or more servings of alcohol and women who drank four or more servings of alcohol on one occasion at least once a week. Most of the alcohol was soju, a native Korean distilled liquor similar to vodka. It is 25 percent alcohol by volume. The study, published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, found the risk of a bleeding stroke - hemorrhagic - was more than 300 percent higher among male binge drinkers, while the risk of total stroke was 86 percent higher among male binge drinkers - UPI

Drinking in week before surgery a bad idea, doctors say

Drinking alcohol during the week before heart surgery multiplies the risk of delirium by six times, a study done at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver suggests. Delirium can include agitation, confusion and hallucinations. It may last days or weeks and can delay discharge from hospital or even increase the risk of complications and dying after surgery. Delirium is distressing for family members and increases the burden of care on nursing staff. Previous research has shown that it occurs more frequently in patients who are chronic drinkers and elderly. But in the current study, age was not a risk factor and merely drinking in the week before surgery increased the risk. The study, published in the B.C. Medical Journal, was conducted by six local physicians and a medical student. It was based on the charts of 38 patients who were admitted to St. Paul's for open heart bypass and/or valve surgery over a two-week period - Star Phoenix

Heart rhythm risk seen in women's alcohol drinking

"Women who consume more than two alcoholic drinks a day have a higher risk of getting the most common type of heart rhythm disturbance, which can raise the chances of having a stroke, researchers said on Tuesday. Previous research had shown that men who drink three or more alcoholic beverages daily have an elevated risk for atrial fibrillation, but the risk for women had not been clear. Researchers in the United States and Switzerland tracked 34,715 middle-aged American women for more than 12 years who did not have atrial fibrillation at the outset of the study. There was no increased risk for the vast majority who drank either no alcohol or up to two drinks daily. But those who drank more had a 60 percent increased risk for atrial fibrillation" - Reuters

From wine to new drugs: a novel way to reduce damage from heart attacks

"An alcohol-busting enzyme may help prevent heart attack damage, according to a new study in Science. Researchers report that aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), an enzyme important for processing alcohol in the human body, clears harmful toxins produced in cells when blood flow is blocked in the heart - and a new drug can switch it on..." - Scientific American