Physical Wellness

Two Drinks Daily Linked to Serious Heart Problems in Elderly

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: May 26, 2015 09:36 PM EDT

Having more than two drinks a day could lead to significant heart damage in seniors, according to a new study.

The latest study involved 4,466 participants with an average age of 76. 

The latest findings revealed greater changes in the structure and function of hearts of people who drank more. The study linked 14 or more alcoholic beverage to enlargement of the wall of the heart's main pumping chamber (left ventricular mass) in men and reduced heart function in women. 

"Women appear more susceptible than men to the cardiotoxic effects of alcohol, which might potentially contribute to a higher risk of alcoholic cardiomyopathy, for any given level of alcohol intake," senior author Dr. Scott Solomon, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of noninvasive cardiology at Brigham and Women's in Boston, said in a news release.

"In spite of potential benefits of low alcohol intake, our findings highlight the possible hazards to cardiac structure and function by increased amounts of alcohol consumption in the elderly, particularly among women. This reinforces the U.S. recommendations stating that those who drink should do so with moderation," said lead author Alexandra Gonçalves, M.D.; Ph.D.,a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Brigham and Women's in Boston, according to a statement.

The findings were published in the  journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging

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