INTAKE OF ALCOHOL AS A MODIFIABLE RISK FACTOR FOR CORONARY HEART DISEASE DEVELOPMENT
INTAKE OF ALCOHOL AS A MODIFIABLE RISK FACTOR FOR CORONARY HEART DISEASE DEVELOPMENTAlcohol intake is also a known risk factor of coronary heart disease – directly or indirectly. It has become associated with heart disease in many ways. Alcohol leads to increased triglycerides, owing to its similarity of structure with glycerol, a component of triglycerides. Many good laboratories do not take blood samples for lipid profile test (which includes triglycerides) if the patients have consumed alcohol in the last 12 hours.Alcohol also adds huge calories to the patients. Many people eat a lot of fried items while drinking. This also adds to fat, cholesterol and calories. Alcohol is often associated with increased stress and bad interpersonal relationships in the family. Alcohol is also one of the major causes of liver disease and failure, besides gastritis and neurological damages.There has been some confusion about recommending of alcohol in some newspapers and medical journals. It has been shown that alcohol can increase the HDL levels in the blood, but it also increases the triglycerides – it does more harm than benefit to the patients. One must see all the effects rather than one isolated parameter.Moreover, many of these research studies are carried out in countries where the temperature is very low and alcohol is used in considerable quantities. The extrapolations are not justified with regard to alcohol. Many studies have also shown that alcohol also leads to an increased incidence of heart disease.*18/283/5*
