Does Heavy Drinking Harm Your Cardiovascular System?
Heavy drinking and binge drinking are known to cause serious short- and long-term health problems. Heavy alcohol consumption over a long period of time can adversely affect nearly every system in your body including the function of major organs like your liver, brain and heart. Heavy drinking can cause high blood pressure and may cause a condition known as cardiomyopathy, or heart disease.
What’s in a Drink?
Most people are unaware what is considered a normal drink and how much is considered too much alcohol in one day, week or month. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has established a “standard drink” chart and defines them as follows for each type of alcohol:
- Beer – 12 fluid ounces (about 5% alcohol)
- Wine – 5 fluid ounces (about 12% alcohol)
- Malt Liquor – 8-9 fluid ounces (about 7% alcohol)
- Distilled spirits – 1.5 fluid ounce shot (about 40% alcohol)
At restaurants across the country, bartenders are praised for their “generous pour” of a glass of wine. The problem is that the glass of wine may be significantly more than a standard drink (5 fluid ounces) making it nearly impossible to determine how many drinks you actually had. Beers can also differ greatly in the amount of alcohol they have, making them more or less than a standard drink.
According to the NIAAA binge drinking is considered 4 or more drinks consumed within two hours for females and 5 or more drinks consumed within two hours for males. Binge drinking multiple times in a month (generally 5 or more) is considered to be heavy alcohol use and could immediately start affecting a person’s health. Everything from your coordination to your heart may be at risk the more alcohol you consume.