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Questions posted in the
Heart Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Question Title: alchohalForum: The Heart Forum
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My father is about 65. Several years ago he was diagnosed with alchohal cardio myopathy. He recieved cardio version three times and it did not work, he is still in arithmia. He quit drinking for when he was diagnosed with the disease. He can walk fine and appears fine but at times seems a little pale. Recently he started drinking a little wine. just a few glasses on the weekend and usualy not more than 2 or 3 at night. Is this detrimental to his health? Could a few glasses of wine damage his already weak heart? ___ Dear Doug, The person with alcoholic cardiomyopathy(ACM) has a heart that has been weakened by alcohol, and although we do not completely understand the way that alcohol is toxic to some hearts and not others, following the diagnosis, any ingestion of alcohol is detrimental to one's health. If your father looks fine, I suspect he does not have a lot of heart failure signs and symptoms (shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling) and this is not unusual for patients with ACM who very well can recover a significant portion of their heart muscle function when they stop ingesting alcohol. Of course not all patients recover and some even do worse even if they never touch alcohol again. It is in anyone's best interest not to drink even an ounce of alcohol should they be diagnosed with ACM. Information provided in the Heart Forum is intended for general informational purposes only, actual diagnosis and treatment can only be made by your physician(s).
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