Alcoholic cardiomyopathy: Treatments, outlook, and more

Those who don’t fully recover are also likely to need this kind of treatment indefinitely. In some cases, a pacemaker or other implantable device might be necessary to treat more severe heart rhythm problems. In many — if not most — cases, abstaining from alcohol can be enough to help people recover from alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy.

Making the Connection and Finding Treatment Options for Cardiomyopathy and Alcohol

• Subjects with a shorter period of alcohol abuse, from 5 to 10 years, had a significant increase in left ventricular diameter and volume compared to the control group.
• With this condition, breathing can be very difficult, progressing to life-threatening levels.
• The available research shows that if you limit your alcohol intake to a certain amount, you’re less likely to develop alcohol-related health problems, including alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy.
• The natural history and long-term prognosis studies of Gavazzi et al10 and Fauchier et al11 compared the evolution of ACM patients according to their degree of withdrawal.
• That typically includes low sodium and cholesterol, while focusing on strong vitamin and mineral intake.
• Muscular weakness may also be present because of the effect of alcohol on muscles (alcoholic myopathy).
• A healthcare provider will inquire about the patient’s alcohol consumption habits, including frequency, duration, and quantity of alcohol intake, symptoms suggestive of heart failure and other cardiac conditions.

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. For people with alcohol use or dependence problems, quitting alcohol is not easy. Chronic alcohol use tends to have far-reaching effects on all aspects of alcoholism a person’s life, and not just their health. Reducing or stopping drinking can be a large and scary change for an alcoholic to face. When symptoms do occur, they are similar to those of congestive heart failure.

Enlargement & Weakening of the Heart

During therapy, treatments like anti-inflammatory medications to reduce swelling can be effective ways to treat the symptoms in the course of the long-term recovery. While this disease appears most often among men between the ages of 35 and 50, other demographics are affected as well. Women and younger adults can be almost as vulnerable, especially when they have a history of heavy drinking for multiple years, which is one of the most common reasons for starting to develop symptoms.

• Since those initial descriptions, reports on several isolated cases or in small series of patients with HF due to DCM and high alcohol intake have been published15-17.
• This inability occurs despite adverse effects on the person’s health, occupation, or relationships.
• The details are kept up to date to help people with addiction treatment needs get the most full and precise facts about the rehabilitation facility.
• In fact, it is considered relatively rare when compared to conditions like coronary artery disease, heart failure, or arrhythmias.

Diagnosis and Tests for Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy

The NIAAA provides an Alcohol Treatment Navigator, where people can learn about AUD treatments and access care and support networks locally. ACM can also induce a feeling of fatigue or a decrease in exercise tolerance. A person may not be able to withstand the amount of exercise or activity as they had previously.

Heavy drinking can weaken the ability of several vital organs in the body to work properly over time and result in serious damage. One of the most important organs in the body that can be harmed through alcohol use is the heart. Chronic alcohol use can weaken the heart and lead to several health conditions that vary in severity. The most important part of your treatment is maintaining abstinence from alcohol.

This is considered a last-resort treatment option only after other treatments have proven unsuccessful. In advanced cases of heart failure, devices like implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) or cardiac resynchronization therapy devices may be implanted to regulate heart rhythms and improve cardiac performance. This is most commonly seen in the legs, ankles and feet, but it can sometimes occur in the abdomen.

• To diagnose this condition, healthcare providers will typically use several of the following methods.
• It is therefore possible that most of these studies may have also consistently omitted most alcohol abusers in whom alcohol had already caused significant ventricular dysfunction.
• This includes a combination of beta-blockers, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, diuretics, aldosterone receptor antagonist and angiotensin blocker-neprilysin inhibitor (if LVEF is less than or equal to 40%).
• In this respect, a higher prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption has been reported among individuals diagnosed with DCM than in the general population8.

Does alcohol increase heart rate?

This is why treatment for alcoholic cardiomyopathy often begins with treatment for alcohol abuse. Since alcohol addiction is a chronic condition with no cure, you’ll need to continually manage it. When compared to other types of cardiovascular disorders, alcoholic cardiomyopathy is not common. In fact, it is considered relatively rare when compared to conditions like coronary artery disease, heart failure, or arrhythmias. Future studies with a strict classification of non-drinkers and drinkers will help clarify whether complete abstinence is mandatory for ACM patients.

Fluid retention can be significant, making a person look like they have gained weight suddenly despite a loss of appetite that generally accompanies ACM. Poor circulation from an underactive heart can result in fluid accumulation in the lungs, known as pulmonary edema. With this condition, breathing can be very difficult, progressing to life-threatening levels. From the data provided in the available ACM studies, it appears that patients who received an ACEI globally showed improved prognosis. In contrast, beta-blockers, similar to aldosterone inhibitors, however beneficial they may be, have thus far not yielded sufficient data on their efficacy in relation to this disease. In the second study, Gavazzi led a multicentre study in which, from 1986 to 1995, 79 patients with ACM and 259 patients with DCM were recruited10.

Substance Abuse Treatment

If symptoms of heart problems (including ACM) do occur, it is essential to talk to your doctor or get help right away. The definition of heavy drinking is drinking more than 15 drinks per week in men or drinking more than eight drinks per week for women. The journey to managing ACM begins with comprehensive treatment for alcohol use disorder. In a tailored treatment program, you can safely stop drinking and learn to live without alcohol abuse.