“Alcohol use rates are increasing among young and middle-aged women because women may feel protected from heart disease until they are older, but this study shows that Even in older age groups, women who drink more are more likely to drink alcohol.” People who meet the recommended daily limit of one drink or who tend to binge drink are more likely to have coronary heart disease. disease risk,” Jamal Rana, a cardiologist at Permanente Medical Group and lead author of the study, said in an email.

The study will be presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual scientific session in early April. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Highest risk for binge drinking

The study used data from 432,265 adults between the ages of 18 and 65 who were treated at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Integrative Medicine. This group consisted of approximately 243,000 men and 189,000 women who filled out periodic assessments reporting their alcohol consumption between 2014 and 2015. The researchers then looked at the participants’ coronary heart disease diagnoses over the next four years.

Participants were asked to drink alcohol at low (1-2 drinks per week), moderate (3-14 drinks per week for men and 3-7 drinks per week for women), or high (15 or more drinks per week) depending on their alcohol intake. divided into two groups. At least 1 drink per week for men and 8 or more drinks per week for women).

Participants were also categorized as having engaged in binge drinking or eating in the past 3 months, with binge drinking defined as drinking 4 or more drinks per day for men and 3 or more drinks per day for women. Defined. People who reported not drinking alcohol were not included.

During the 4-year follow-up period, 3,108 participants were diagnosed with coronary heart disease. Higher alcohol intake was associated with higher rates of coronary heart disease. Both men and women who reported episodic heavy drinking or binge drinking had the highest risk.

The data found that the association between alcohol and coronary heart disease was particularly strong among women.

Coronary heart disease, also known as coronary artery disease, is the most common type of heart disease in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This disease occurs when the arteries of the heart cannot supply enough oxygen-rich blood to the heart due to a buildup of plaque.

According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women. According to the NIH report, symptoms vary from person to person, and symptoms often do not appear until after a heart attack or other event.

“Although it has long been believed that alcohol is good for the heart, there is growing evidence that casts doubt on that idea,” Lana wrote.

Alcohol is a risk factor for many health problems

Nieka Goldberg, a clinical associate professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and medical director of Atria New York City, said alcohol is actually a toxin for the heart. Alcohol raises blood pressure, increases the risk of heart rhythm problems, especially during binge drinking, is associated with an enlarged heart, and is a toxin to the heart muscle, she said.

“I think this is an important study because for a while, because of early studies done in the past, people thought that alcohol had a heart-protective effect. But in reality, “We don’t prescribe alcohol to fight heart disease,” she said.

Alcohol consumption is increasing among women

The link between alcohol and heart disease in women is a cause for concern, given that women’s alcohol consumption is on the rise. Men used to drink more alcohol than men, but studies over the past few years have shown that the gap is narrowing.

According to the CDC, about 13% of adult women report binge drinking, of which 25% say they drink alcohol at least weekly on average, and 25% say they have at least six drinks during their binge. is answering. A study published in July in JAMA Network Open showed that the number of alcohol-related deaths among women is increasing at a faster pace than men, with the number of deaths among those 65 and older increasing in particular. Ta.

“I think this raises an important question because we often think of heavy drinkers as only men. But we don’t think women can be heavy drinkers. We need to raise awareness that there is a gender,” Goldberg said.

Occasional binge drinking can affect heart health

But it wasn’t just the heavy drinkers who were affected, Mary Ann said. McLaughlin, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Faster Heart Hospital. She said her study was interesting because it showed that even occasional drinking can affect heart health, even if it reaches the level of binge drinking.

She says some people think it’s no big deal if they just drink on the weekends because they don’t drink every day. “But in reality, women were at increased risk if they had four or more drinks a day and men had five or more drinks in the past three months,” McLaughlin said.

Women are more susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol

When it comes to heart health, it’s no surprise that alcohol puts women at greater risk than men, said C. Noel Bailey Mertz, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at the Smit Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai. To tell.

Women are affected by more harmful effects than men, such as tobacco, medicine, a bottle of beer or a glass of wine, and even though men and women consume the same amount, women are smaller, he said. said. Physically smaller on average. Women metabolize differently, have different blood pressure and liver function, and store fat differently, Merz said.

“Women and men are built differently,” she said, noting that she didn’t even mention obvious differences in fertility. She says, “In addition to body surface area, there may just be a purely biological difference in how alcohol is metabolized.”

Experts say it’s possible to reduce some of alcohol’s negative effects. For example, when people reduce or stop drinking alcohol, their blood pressure improves and some people lose weight because alcohol is no longer consumed because it is a sugar.

However, problems such as heart enlargement can occur from long-term heavy drinking and may not improve even if you stop drinking.

“If you stop drinking, you may reverse some of your risk,” McLaughlin said. “The degree of improvement depends on the person’s age and years of drinking.”