Here at Matthews Internal Medicine, our priority is preventative medicine. We want to help you avoid diseases and other chronic problems. To do that, we help you live a healthier lifestyle. We watch out for risk factors. We also let you know when certain behavior could have consequences later.
One example of that is alcohol consumption. Drinking too much can result in far more than a hangover or embarrassing yourself at a social gathering. Consuming too much alcohol can also affect your health later on. One thing that excessive alcohol consumption can be linked to is heart disease. This ailment is one of the leading causes of death for Americans. If you want to avoid this issue later in life, watching what you drink can be a good start.
The Risks
If you drink too much, you can end up with higher blood pressure. This is bad for your heart over time and can increase the risk of heart failure. Other potential cardiac issues include cardiomyopathy and cardiac arrhythmia. Too much drinking can also increase the level of some fats, like triglycerides, in the blood. That’s not good for your heart either.
Drinking too much also means excess calories in your diet. Not only are you drinking empty calories, but people tend not to care as much about what they eat when they’ve had a few drinks. If you overeat after a night out, that can also increase your risk of heart disease. Gaining weight can lead to obesity and the risk of developing diabetes. Both of these conditions will also put you at greater risk for heart disease.
In fact, if you have one of these conditions already you need to talk to a doctor before consuming any alcohol. You could risk making health problems like cardiomyopathy and high blood pressure even worse. It’s also a good idea to talk to your doctor about drinking if you have a history of strokes or are taking medications that could interact poorly with alcohol.
Lowering Your Risk
You can lower your risk of developing heart disease by visiting our practice. We can help you get into an effective heart disease prevention program that focuses on all of your risk factors for developing heart disease, including alcohol consumption. We can also let you know if it’s safe to drink in the first place, given your history and current health conditions.
What you shouldn’t do is just assume that moderate drinking is also unhealthy. Some say that just having a drink or two per day isn’t just a non-factor when it comes to developing heart disease and other conditions. They actually think that it’s good for you! No study has shown that definitively, so don’t take that as gospel. Instead, talk to the physicians at Matthews Internal Medicine about living a healthier lifestyle that can help you prevent heart disease.