alchohal

  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?

[CCF CARDIO MD APS]

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).