Author: Alex Thompson

Association between Alcohol Intake and Arterial Stiffness in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review PMC

However, severe alcohol-related neuropathy may cause permanent nerve damage. However, nerve damage is sometimes permanent, and your symptoms are likely to worsen if you don’t stop drinking. This could lead to disability, chronic pain, and damage to your arms and legs. The sooner you stop drinking alcohol, the more favorable your outlook is if you have alcohol-related neuropathy. Research suggests you can recover from some or all of the nerve damage caused by alcohol-related neuropathy.

A further effort to support the conclusions of this review and extend the current knowledge in the field, in particular with RCTs, larger populations and longer durations, is warranted. Graphic representation of the results of the systematic review. Methodological and technical aspects of the included studies. Alcohol might also slow down the rate at which your body breaks down and removes the blood-thinning drug. This can lead to a dangerous buildup of the drug in your body.

  1. However, severe alcohol-related neuropathy may cause permanent nerve damage.
  2. Research suggests you can recover from some or all of the nerve damage caused by alcohol-related neuropathy.
  3. Maybe in your 20s, your legs felt great, and your skin was very smooth.
  4. Over time, the effects of drinking too much alcohol may cause alcoholic neuropathy.
  5. Abstaining from alcohol can help restore your nutritional health, improve your symptoms, and prevent further nerve damage.
  6. Hemoglobin is a protein that helps your blood carry oxygen through your body.

Vascular Symptoms

Nine articles were excluded because they lacked quantitative data or referred to specific populations (Figure 1). Therefore only 13 studies were included in the current systematic review. Are you concerned that your drinking is affecting your varicose veins?

Home Treatments

However, if you are concerned that low circulation in your legs is caused by a medical condition, a simple leg ultrasound or vein consultation is your next best option to help diagnose this condition. Poor blood circulation in the legs often means that arteries can’t transport enough oxygen to the tissues. Blood is responsible for carrying oxygen and other needed substances to cells. It also carries away waste products like carbon dioxide (CO2), which is then expelled through breathing or by the pores of your skin. Lack of oxygen in the leg can cause problems with wound healing, skin infections, and even cellulitis. Yes, long-term excessive alcohol consumption may lead to peripheral neuropathy, which can cause pain in your feet.

The relationship between alcohol consumption and cardiovascular health is still a debated issue. Despite a substantial number of studies aimed at exploring the benefits and risks related to alcohol consumption, concerns remain about consumption recommendations, above all for patients at high CV risk. Drinking alcohol daily can make your heart beat really fast and out of rhythm. This can lead to blood clots, strokes, heart failure and other heart conditions. An excessive heart rate is also known to cause blood to pump through your veins faster, putting unnecessary pressure on weakened leg veins.

How we reviewed this article:

Veins serve a specific purpose of sending blood from the legs back up to the heart. Think of them as a sophisticated and interconnected network that repeats the same job over and over again. Veins support many systems critical to your cardiovascular health and other functions of blood. But as we age and make certain lifestyle choices that may be detrimental to our overall health, these veins can malfunction due to damage to the valves. With damage from alcohol, the circulatory system will find it difficult to pump blood through the entire body, heightening the chance of heart disease.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Summary table of primary studies included in the systemic review. The relationship between alcohol consumption and CV health is still debated. These socks gently squeeze your legs so blood doesn’t linger in that area too long. Ask your doctor what kind of compression socks might be best for you. This condition and the myriad of symptoms that follow are only exacerbated by alcohol consumption. Ever wondered why the doctor advises you to elevate your legs?

Most studies involved more than 250 participants while few had less than 20. The majority (60%) of the participants were men (14,111 males; 9378 females). The average age of study subjects was 45 years, ranging from 21 to 96 years, and the average body mass index was 24.5 kg/m2. Every day, your heart pumps about 10 pints of blood 60,000 miles around your body through your circulatory system. That system is made up of blood vessels, the tubes that carry blood throughout your body. Blood delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues, removes carbon dioxide and waste from them, and keeps your body functioning.

Relationship between Alcohol Consumption and Arterial Stiffness

This can lead to heart failure and other life-threatening health problems. Therefore, the identification of arterial stiffness determinants could lead to better management and more efficient prevention of CV diseases. The early detection of subclinical atherosclerosis represents a challenge for clinical practice, considering that it could be useful in reducing individuals’ CV risk 1.

Exceeding the recommended guidelines above is considered heavy drinking. Alcohol, in low to moderate amounts, thins the blood, potentially reducing the risk of clots. But moderation is key – and doctors don’t recommend drinking alcohol to protect against DVT. People of all ages can suffer from poor blood flow in the legs, and it negatively affects their quality of life.

That means one drink a day for women and men age 65 and older. For men under age 65, up to two drinks a day is considered moderate. Yet because of this effect, drinking alcohol could potentially increase your risk for the bleeding type of strokes — especially when you drink it in large quantities.