Cardiovascular Consequences of Binge Drinking: An Integrative Review with Implications for Advocacy, Policy, and Research

Abstract

Worldwide, binge drinking is a major public health problem. The popularized health risks associated with binge drinking include physical injury and motor vehicle crashes; less attention has been given to the negative effects on the cardiovascular (CV) system. The primary aims of this review were to provide a summary of the adverse effects of binge drinking on the risk and development of CV disease and to review potential pathophysiologic mechanisms. Using specific inclusion criteria, an integrative review was conducted that included data from human experimental, prospective cross-sectional, and cohort epidemiological studies that examined the association between binge drinking and CV conditions such as hypertension (HTN), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and arrhythmias. Studies were identified that examined the relationship between binge drinking and CV outcomes. Collectively, findings support that binge drinking is associated with a higher risk of pre-HTN, HTN, MI, and stroke in middle-aged and older adults. Binge drinking may also have adverse CV effects in young adults (aged 18 to 30). Mechanisms remain incompletely understood; however, available evidence suggests that binge drinking may induce oxidative stress and vascular injury and be proatherogenic. Public health messages regarding binge drinking need to include the effects of binge drinking on the CV system.

Keywords: Alcohol; Binge Drinking; Cardiovascular Conditions; Myocardial Infarction; Stroke.

Figure 1.

Repeated binge drinking episodes may lead to a heightened risk for cardiovascular (CV) conditions, such as hypertension, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and arrhythmias. Binge drinking may induce oxidative stress, vascular injury (endothelial cell [EC] dysfunction), activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and coagulation disturbances that collectively serve as “proatherogenic” stimuli leading to heightened risk for the aforementioned CV conditions. This increased vulnerability may begin with adolescence binge drinking and progress through young adulthood into middle age.