Regan T J
Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark 07103-2757.
JAMA. 1990 Jul 18;264(3):377-81.
Ethanol has long been recognized as a toxic agent that has acute and chronic effects on cerebral and hepatic function. Over the past two decades important influences on the cardiovascular system have been either rediscovered or observed for the first time. The combined use of tobacco cigarettes and alcohol appears to increase the risk of many of these clinical abnormalities. While many individuals addicted to ethanol have subclinical abnormalities of the heart, somewhat less than a majority develop symptomatic cardiac problems. These include heart failure and arrhythmias. In addition to supraventricular arrhythmias that often normalize spontaneously, there is an increased incidence of sudden death that peaks at about 50 years of age in the alcoholic population. A significant degree of blood pressure elevation occurs in individuals who abuse alcohol. This appears to be transient and is normalized in most individuals during abstinence. The increased incidence of hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic stroke in middle age also appears to decline when alcohol abuse is interrupted. A preventive effect of mild to moderate drinking on coronary artery disease is, at present, equivocal, largely due to the question of appropriate controls.
长期以来，乙醇一直被认为是一种对大脑和肝脏功能有急性和慢性影响的有毒物质。在过去二十年中，人们重新发现或首次观察到乙醇对心血管系统有重要影响。吸烟与饮酒同时进行似乎会增加许多此类临床异常情况的风险。虽然许多酗酒者存在心脏亚临床异常，但出现有症状心脏问题的人数略少于半数。这些问题包括心力衰竭和心律失常。除了常常会自行恢复正常的室上性心律失常外，猝死发生率也有所增加，在酗酒人群中，猝死发生率在约50岁时达到峰值。酗酒者会出现明显的血压升高。这似乎是暂时的，大多数人在戒酒期间血压会恢复正常。当中年人停止酗酒时，出血性和非出血性中风的发生率增加情况似乎也会下降。目前，轻度至中度饮酒对冠状动脉疾病的预防作用尚不明确，这主要是由于合适对照的问题。
