Alcohol and cardiovascular disease - a social impact analysis

Alcohol has been considered a risk factor for over a century, but the pathogenesis and natural history of alcohol-related heart disease remains obscure. Numerous researches have demonstrated the beneficial effects of alcohol consumption as long as it is consumed in moderation. Advances have been made in our understanding of the effects of acute and chronic alcohol administration both at hemodynamic and cellular level, and recent studies have indicated that changes in heart dimensions and function are common in alcoholics. Depending on the amount consumed, alcohol increases blood pressure, which increases the risk of hypertension, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, myocardial infarction, arrhythmias etc. In terms of overall mortality, epidemiological investigations have shown that in case of young people, drinking any amount of alcohol increases the overall risk of death, the risk being greater as the amount of alcohol consumed increases. The success of the joint efforts of researchers, clinicians, psychologists and of all those whose activity is related to alcohology lies in the ability to convince the society of the importance of this health issue, and that the dependency syndrome that it creates attracts many biological, psychological, social problems.