Alcohol and Congestive Heart Failure
Authors: XinQi Dong
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2003)

Letters7 January 2003Alcohol and Congestive Heart FailureXinQi Dong, MDXinQi Dong, MDYale New Haven Hospital; New Haven, CT 06510 (Dong)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-138-1-200301070-00018 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Walsh and colleagues (1) reported that moderate alcohol consumption appears to protect against congestive heart failure and that heavier alcohol consumption was not associated with worsening of congestive heart failure in a community-based sample. The metabolism of alcohol may help explain these perplexing findings. Alcohol elimination occurs by oxidation to acetaldehyde and acetate through both alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), which are polymorphic at the ADH2, ADH3, and ALDH2 loci in humans (2). Genetic polymorphisms of ADH and ALDH have been explored as the possible explanation for the cardiac protective effect of alcohol (3). The ...References1. Walsh CR, Larson MG, Evans JC, Djousse L, Ellison RC, Vasan RS, . Alcohol consumption and risk for congestive heart failure in the Framingham Heart Study. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136:181-91. [PMID: 11827493] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Thomasson HR, Crabb DW, Edenberg HJ, Li TK. Alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase polymorphisms and alcoholism. Behav Genet. 1993;23:131-6. [PMID: 8512527] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Hines LM, Stampfer MJ, Ma J, Gaziano JM, Ridker PM, Hankinson SE, . Genetic variation in alcohol dehydrogenase and the beneficial effect of moderate alcohol consumption on myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med. 2001;344:549-55. [PMID: 11207350] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Tunstall-Pedoe H, Kuulasmaa K, Amouyel P, Arveiler D, Rajakangas AM, Pajak A. Myocardial infarction and coronary deaths in the World Health Organization MONICA Project. Registration procedures, event rates, and case-fatality rates in 38 populations from 21 countries in four continents. Circulation. 1994;90:583-612. [PMID: 8026046] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Hashimoto Y, Nakayama T, Futamura A, Omura M, Nakarai H, Nakahara K. Relationship between genetic polymorphisms of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes and changes in risk factors for coronary heart disease associated with alcohol consumption. Clin Chem. 2002;48:1043-8. [PMID: 12089173] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Yale New Haven Hospital; New Haven, CT 06510 (Dong) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoAlcohol Consumption and Risk for Congestive Heart Failure in the Framingham Heart Study Craig R. Walsh , Martin G. Larson , Jane C. Evans , Luc Djousse , R. Curtis Ellison , Ramachandran S. Vasan , and Daniel Levy Alcohol and Congestive Heart Failure Craig R. Walsh and Daniel Levy Metrics 7 January 2003Volume 138, Issue 1Page: 75KeywordsAlcohol consumptionAlcoholsAntidiuretic hormoneDehydrogenasesEnzymesGenetic polymorphismGenetic predispositionHeart failureMedical risk factorsStable coronary artery disease ePublished: 7 January 2003 Issue Published: 7 January 2003 CopyrightCopyright © 2003 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...