The Thanksgiving Blues

With Thanksgiving dinner approaching in the next few days, binge drink and excessive overeating us inevitable. Researchers may have found that the link between binge drinking and clogged arteries. The research attempts to correlate drinking patterns with cardiovascular disease as opposed to the total amount of alcohol consumed over long periods of time. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that,

"Many studies suggest that an irregular pattern of heavy drinking brings about a two-fold increase in risk for a fatal heart attack, even as moderate drinking has been shown to reduce risk (the red wine effect). About 65 percent of Americans drink alcohol, with 15 percent reporting binge patterns in a national survey of problem drinkers."

The study says that a certain type of immune cell is developed during drinking that attaches to the walls of the artery more easily which then promotes and initiates cardiovascular disease. Hopefully with such research people who are aware of their drinking habits will take action and get yearly heart scans as a means of prevention. Photolink