Chronic Binge Drinking Increases Risk of Stroke

by AdamS on September 6, 2012

Binge drinking has long been known to be detrimental to a person’s overall health, yet now there is even more evidence that heavy alcohol intake over a long period of time increases an individual’s risk of having a stroke.  Excessive drinking causes an array of terrible effects on a person’s body.  The newest study published in the Journal of Neurology claims that heavy drinking significantly increases a persons chances of having a stroke and also having the stroke at a much earlier age than those who are not chronic heavy drinkers. These new findings should encourage alcoholics to go to Florida alcohol detox.  During an alcohol detox, most patients will need to go through a partial hospitalization program to overcome their addiction to alcohol.

University of Lille Nord de France’s Findings

The recent study was conducted by researchers from the University of Lille Nord de France and the data was compiled from a sample size of 540 individuals who were interviewed.  The research focused on individuals who had suffered from an intracerebral hemorrhage which is a type of stroke that is caused by bleeding within the brain and not from a blood clot.  These individuals were asked questions about their drinking habits and the study found that a quarter of them were designated as “heavy drinkers” who drink 3 or more drinks per day.  These chronic heavy drinkers had strokes an average of fourteen years earlier than their non heavy drinking counterparts.

Other Factors Could Also Play a Role

Although the data compiled by researchers at the University of Lille Nord de France provides pretty compelling evidence that heavy drinking over long periods of time plays a part in the likelihood of intracerebral hemorrhages, other factors probably contribute.  For example, chronic, heavy drinkers are also more likely to smoke tobacco, experience liver problems, and suffer head injuries from falling which could all play a part in causing a stroke.  This means that heavy drinking is more of a risk factor for having a stroke, than the actual cause of the stroke itself.

Additional Risks of Chronic Drinking

Beyond increasing the risk of a stroke, heavy drinking has also been linked to several other health complications.  Heavy drinking increases the risk of developing pancreatic and different types of gastric cancers.  Chronic drinking additionally lowers cognitive function, decreases memory and in the long run, shrinks the size of the brain itself.  Heavy drinking is responsible for approximately eighty thousand deaths each year in the United States.

Certainly, drinking excessively has plenty of long term consequences, and should be avoided at all costs.  The increase risk of stroke is just the latest in a long line of terrible consequences that arise from heavy alcohol intake.  For those suffering from alcoholism, it may not be too late to avoid these consequences by attending Florida alcohol detox or checking into a partial hospitalization program.  It is really important for a person to find help with their alcohol problems and avoid suffering from the adverse effects of prolonged heavy drinking.  Go to https://www.thewatershed.com/treatment/programs/partial-rehabilitation/ for more info on partial hospitalization.

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