Alcohol is the most abused addictive substance in the United States. While moderate consumption can be safe, drinking too much can affect many parts of the body, including the heart. Too much alcohol can weaken your heart, raise your blood pressure, and lead to serious cardiovascular complications over time.
This page addresses questions like how does alcohol abuse affect the heart and how to get compassionate and effective treatment for alcohol addiction.
Alcohol and Heart Health
While drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is known to be detrimental to heart health, some studies have shown a relationship between consuming a moderate amount of red wine and good heart health. However, no research has established a causal link, simply an association between wine and a reduced risk of dying from heart disease.
Alcohol affects your heart in different ways. Drinking too much can cause your blood pressure to rise, weaken your heart muscles, and provoke potentially dangerous heart rhythms. Excessive alcohol consumption—even if only occasionally—increases the chances of heart disease and stroke. It may also trigger weight gain, a risk factor for heart problems.
No amount of alcohol is completely safe for your heart—you can get the same benefits delivered by small amounts of wine by exercising and eating a healthy diet. You don’t need any alcohol to have a healthy heart, and many people find that avoiding alcohol is the safest choice.
How Does Alcohol Affect the Heart: Short-Term?
Drinking alcohol can start to affect your heart almost immediately. Even after a few drinks, your heart and blood vessels can experience changes. These short-term effects may not seem serious, but they can provoke bigger problems if you drink frequently or heavily. Short-term complications may include:
- Elevated blood pressure: After drinking alcohol, your blood pressure can go up. This happens because alcohol makes your blood vessels tighten or narrow. High blood pressure puts extra strain on your heart. If you drink often, this can bring about serious heart issues like strokes or heart attacks.
- Increased heart rate: Many wonder, “How does alcohol affect heart rate.” It does so by making your heart beat faster—tachycardia. A faster heart rate can make you feel dizzy, and short of breath, and it may cause chest pain. If your heart beats too quickly, it can’t pump blood as well as it should, leading to cardiovascular problems.
- Irregular heartbeats: Alcohol can cause your heart to beat irregularly, a condition known as arrhythmia which often occurs after episodes of binge drinking (holiday heart syndrome). Arrhythmias can be dangerous and may lead to blood clots or sudden heart problems.
- Dehydration: Alcohol is a diuretic which makes you lose fluids. When you become dehydrated, your heart has to work harder to pump blood. This can make you feel weak or tired.
These short-term effects typically subside after the alcohol leaves your system, although problems can become more serious if you drink regularly. How does alcohol affect the heart long-term, then?
How Does Alcohol Affect the Heart: Long-Term?
Drinking alcohol frequently or in large amounts can cause lasting damage to your heart in the following ways:
- Cardiomyopathy: Heavy drinking can lead to a condition called cardiomyopathy. This means the heart muscle becomes stretched, thickened, or stiff. As a result, the heart struggles to pump blood efficiently. Symptoms of cardiomyopathy include tiredness, shortness of breath, and swelling in the legs and feet. If it worsens, cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure.
- Chronic high blood pressure: Drinking too much alcohol can cause long-term high blood pressure (hypertension). High blood pressure damages the arteries, making them narrow or harden over time. This can lead to heart attacks, strokes, or kidney damage. If you already have hypertension, alcohol makes it harder to control.
- Heart disease: Chronic alcohol use raises your risk for heart disease. Heart disease happens when the blood vessels that supply the heart become clogged or damaged. This reduces blood flow and can lead to chest pain—angina—heart attacks, or sudden death. Alcohol can also increase cholesterol levels, compounding the risk of heart disease.
- Stroke: Drinking heavily is associated with a heightened risk of having a stroke. Ischemic stroke involves a blood clot interrupting the flow of blood to the brain, something that occurs more frequently in those who drink alcohol. A hemorrhagic stroke happens when a blood vessel in the brain bursts—this is also inflamed by alcohol abuse.
- Arrhythmias: Long-term alcohol use increases the risk of developing dangerous arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation. This can cause blood clots, heart failure, or stroke. The more you drink, the greater the risk.
- Weight gain and obesity: Alcohol is high in calories and can lead to weight gain. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Alcohol can also affect your judgment, making it easier to eat unhealthy foods.
- Liver damage: Long-term heavy drinking can cause liver damage, such as cirrhosis. When the liver is damaged, it can’t filter toxins from the blood. This places undue strain on the heart, provoking more heart-related problems.
Fortunately, moderating or discontinuing consumption can help your heart recover. Many people see improvements in blood pressure and heart function within weeks or months of stopping drinking.
Other Effects of Drinking Alcohol on the Heart
Alcohol affects more than just your blood pressure and heart rate. It can lead to other heart-related problems that may not manifest immediately but can become serious over time.
- Compromised immune system: Drinking too much alcohol weakens your immune system, making it harder for your body to fight infections. This can increase your risk of developing endocarditis, an infection of the heart’s lining or valves. Endocarditis is a serious condition that can lead to heart damage or heart failure if not treated.
- Increased inflammation: Alcohol can inflame the blood vessels and heart tissue. Over time, chronic inflammation can damage the heart and arteries, triggering conditions like atherosclerosis—hardening of the arteries—and increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
- Nutritional deficiencies: Alcohol interferes with the body’s ability to absorb core nutrients like vitamin B1 (thiamine), essential for heart health. A lack of these nutrients can lead to problems like beriberi, a condition that affects the heart and can cause shortness of breath, swelling in the legs, and heart failure.
If alcohol is affecting your heart health, moderating consumption or quitting completely can help prevent these issues.
Anchored Recovery’s Alcohol Rehab Orange County
If alcohol is harming your heart and overall health, we can help you fight back at Anchored Recovery. We offer a structured and supportive environment to help you quit drinking, heal your body, and initiate sustained recovery.
Our alcohol rehab program in Orange County provides detox services and personalized treatment plans to address the physical and psychological components of addiction. Treatment also includes a robust aftercare component to help you stay sober long-term.
When you’re ready to regain control of your life and protect your heart, contact Anchored Recovery by calling (844) 429-5554.
