Ulog #045 : How much do you love your alcohol?

Hearing my niece's friend casually mentioning that he consumed 2 bottles of red wine made me changed gear to a cardiac nurse mode all of a sudden. Suddenly remembering my previous life, it can't be helped i suppose to admonish him gently of possible consequences or results from frequent bingeing of alcohol.

There might not be an acute adverse effect when bingeing, but perhaps an extra information can one way or another make us responsible when drinking alcohol.

A scenario

We have had a 25 year old male patient years ago, admitted with cardiomyopathy-induced by alcohol. As it was so advanced, complications were that as his heart no longer pumps well, his blood instead of going to the body goes back to his lungs and as his kidney is no longer perfused, his urine output was no longer sufficient. He was in and out of Coronary Care Unit and Intensive Care Unit. He passed away in ITU.

His only medical history were chronic intake/bingeing of alcohol and occasional marijuana. Simply put, smoking marijuana was ruled out immediately as the cause from admission.

Dilated cardiomyopathy

Alcohol is the main cause of dilated cardiomyopathy, a type of cardiomyopathy where the size, structure and muscle functions are affected. As the heart muscles get enlarged losing their elasticity, the muscle linings become thinner to accomodate the increasing size. These changes at some point will affect the pumping action of the muscles that can lead to heart failure. The severity oftentimes will lead to heart transplant or death.

Our young man above was referred a heart transplant but was rejected. He knew he was dying and as much as we spoiled and let him do everything he wanted, it wasn't easy for him. He can barely breathe, although he managed at times to walk about carrying a small tank of oxygen.

Different circumstances

Each one of us have different circumstances where we find refuge in alcohol...for some, it helps them forget life's issues even temporarily. For those who don't need as much and are able to control their intake, this information hopefully will make you pause and reconsider next time you touch an alcohol. It takes time to develop this disease, but we can help in not having it.

After all that, who wants to share a bottle of red with me?

Location, here...