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[Heart diseases in alcoholics]
1Vsezväzového vedeckého centra lekársko-biologických problémov narkológie Ministerstva zdravotníctva ZSSR v Moskve.
Insights
Chronic alcoholism causes irreversible heart damage, termed alcoholic cardiomyopathies. This review details the molecular, biochemical, and clinical aspects of these alcohol-induced heart diseases and their treatment.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Toxicology
- Pathology
Context:
- Chronic alcoholism is a significant global health issue with widespread systemic effects.
- Alcoholic heart disease, including alcoholic cardiomyopathies, represents a specific category of cardiac pathology.
- Understanding the mechanisms and manifestations of alcohol-induced heart conditions is crucial for effective management.
Purpose:
- To provide a comprehensive overview of alcoholic heart diseases, encompassing their etiology, pathogenesis, and clinical presentation.
- To detail the molecular, biochemical, and morphological changes in cardiomyocytes resulting from chronic alcohol exposure.
- To analyze the specific clinical characteristics and current therapeutic strategies for various forms of alcoholic heart disease.
Summary:
- Alcoholic heart disease encompasses conditions like alcoholic cardiomyopathies, characterized by cardiac insufficiency and chamber dilation.
- The pathogenesis involves direct toxic effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde on myocardial structure and function, exacerbated by impaired alcohol metabolism.
- Changes in the myocardium become irreversible with chronic alcoholism, affecting cardiomocytes at multiple biological levels.
Impact:
- This review consolidates current knowledge on alcoholic heart disease, aiding clinicians in diagnosis and treatment.
- It highlights the irreversible nature of myocardial changes in chronic alcoholism, emphasizing the need for early intervention.
- Provides a foundation for further research into the complex mechanisms and targeted therapies for alcohol-induced cardiac conditions.
Abstract:
A complex approach to the whole range of diseases of the heart in alcoholics is presented. The authors are concerned with different variants of cardiac diseases induced by chronic alcoholism, understood and referred to in the light of the WHO concept as "alcoholic diseases of the heart". These conditions fall within the category of specific diseases of the myocardium, which in the stage of evident manifestations of cardiac insufficiency and dilation of the cavities are termed alcoholic cardiomyopathies. Although the etiology is not yet fully understood, the direct toxic effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde upon the structure and function of the myocardium due to the decreased functional activity of alcohol dehydrogenase and catalase are known to be involved in the development of alcoholic diseases of the heart. In chronic alcoholism the changes in the myocardium become increasingly irreversible. Moleculo-biological, biochemical, clinical, and morphological changes on cardiomocytes arising after the extensive effect of alcohol on different systems of the body are described in detail. The specific characteristics of clinical manifestations of different alcoholic diseases of the heart are analyzed and the currently used therapeutic procedures are discussed in relation to the clinical form and stage of the disease in the light of close cooperation with micrological departments.