Researchers have discovered a correlation between alcohol abuse and heart attacks.
There are more than 3 million US cases per year of alcoholism. It is a disease that cannot be cured. Symptoms of alcohol consumption is related to wanting to start each day with a drink.
More than 18 million people in the United States struggle with alcohol abuse, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
But, researchers now argue that alcohol use disorders may be deadlier than what physicians previously thought. In fact, new research has found a link between alcoholism and heart attacks.
Published in the “Journal of the American College of Cardiology”, researchers have found alcohol abuse puts people at risk for a heart attack and even heart failure.
Researchers examined data of all California residents ages 21 and older who received emergency inpatient medical care from 2005 and 2009. Among the nearly 15 million patients in the database, 268,000 patients had been diagnosed with alcohol abuse. Scientists examining the data discovered that alcohol abuse was linked to a 140% increased risk of a heart attack and 230% increase of congestive heart failure.
Researchers argued that eliminating alcohol abuse would lead to nearly 100,000 fewer patients with congestive heart failure.
Gregory M. Marcus, MD, the lead researcher in the study revealed that he was surprised to see a connection between alcohol abuse and heart attacks. He hopes that this research will help prevent people from binging drinking.
Alcohol abuse and drinking and driving
Alcohol abuse doesn’t just lead to heart attacks. A 2017 study published in the journal of “Accident Analysis & Prevention” found that people with exhibiting risky alcohol consumption patterns were more likely to drink and drive. In addition, people who abused alcohol were also less likely to think they were going to crash. Researchers also explained that people who reported drinking and driving revealed that they also had friends and family who also engage in drinking and driving.