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While lab testing won’t lead to an alcoholic cardiomyopathy diagnosis specifically, it can aid in identifying organ damage. Oftentimes X-rays and CT scans can detect an enlarged heart and congestion or fluid in the lungs while electrocardiograms may identify disruption in the heartbeat. But heavy drinking can affect how well the liver can make proteins that help control blood clotting. That’s the main way drinking can interfere with medications commonly taken by people with heart failure — specifically certain blood thinners, Brown and Mukamal say.
If your heart is severely damaged, your doctor may recommend an implantable defibrillator or pacemaker to help your heart work. It’s important to note that alcoholic cardiomyopathy may not cause any symptoms until the disease is more advanced. Since symptoms of alcoholic cardiomyopathy can be similar to idiopathic cardiomyopathy, your doctor will likely want to get to the root of the problem. If left untreated, alcohol cardiomyopathy can cause arrhythmias and even lead to congestive heart failure. At Vertava Health, our treatment centers offer customizable treatment programs that include medical detox and behavioral therapy and other effective treatment services. This allows patients to reduce and stop their drinking in a safe and structured environment while receiving treatment for the core issues underlying their alcohol use.
Can Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy Be Reversed?
These chambers are important as they do the majority of the work of your heart, with the right ventricle pumping blood to your lungs and the left ventricle pumping blood to your entire body. Weakening in the muscles around the ventricles means they can’t pump as hard, which negatively affects your entire body. Alcohol-related cardiomyopathy is a type of dilated cardiomyopathy, which is when your heart’s shape changes because its muscles are stretching too much. The effect is much like how a rubber band or spring weakens when stretched too much. Alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy is a relatively uncommon condition, occurring in about 1% to 2% of people who consume more than the recommended amounts of alcohol. Data suggests patients with successful quitting of alcohol have improved overall outcomes with a reduced number of inpatient admissions and improvement in diameter size on echocardiogram.
So he was surprised when one of them, an older man who always told Brown that he didn’t drink, was contradicted by his wife when she came along for his checkup. Frequently, a relative decrease occurs in systolic blood pressure because of reduced cardiac output and increased diastolic blood pressure due to peripheral vasoconstriction, resulting in a decrease in the pulse pressure. Your doctor might prescribe ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers to help lower your blood pressure.
What are the symptoms of alcoholic cardiomyopathy?
But it’s an important issue, because people with heart failure usually need to make lifestyle changes to manage their symptoms well. Cardiac percussion and palpation reveal evidence of an enlarged heart with a laterally displaced and diffuse point of maximal impulse. Auscultation can help to reveal the apical murmur of mitral regurgitation alcoholic cardiomyopathy and the lower parasternal murmur of tricuspid regurgitation secondary to papillary muscle displacement and dysfunction. Third and fourth heart sounds can be heard, and they signify systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Pulmonary rales signify pulmonary congestion secondary to elevated left atrial and left ventricular end-diastolic pressures.
Can alcoholic cardiomyopathy be cured?
The only likely cure for alcoholic cardiomyopathy is to stop drinking altogether. Even then, some people will not completely recover.
Drinking in moderation can reduce the likelihood of you developing diabetes, heart failure, and stroke. The effects of alcohol play an important role in how alcoholic cardiomyopathy is developed. The doctor will also likely ask about your medical history, including your history of alcohol use.
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If symptoms of heart problems (including ACM) do occur, it is essential to talk to your doctor or get help right away. Fortunately, the negative effects of alcoholic cardiomyopathy in the early stages can be reversed entirely when alcohol usage is stopped. Even in more advanced cases of alcoholic cardiomyopathy, the progression of the disease will likely stop when alcohol use is stopped.
Consider a heart-healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet or the DASH diet. Treatment for this condition starts with helping you reduce your alcohol intake or stop drinking entirely. That also may involve supportive care https://ecosoberhouse.com/ that will help prevent — or at least reduce the impact of — any alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Supportive care for withdrawal is especially important because some of its symptoms can be severe or even life-threatening.
