Heart attack, stroke, alcoholism

Riley and I spent a good deal of time with a Veterans Administration doctor last week. Of course we had to give her some history of previous illnesses, hospitalizations, etc. I mentioned that he had a heart attack in 2012 and has not been drinking since then. I was surprised to hear her say “Alcoholism does not cause heart attacks or strokes.” I disagreed with her and was met with a kind of stern look. I replied, “In my research, I discovered that excess drinking can cause cardiacmyopathy.” Then I dropped the discussion.

This is a trained doctor who should know and understand the affects of excessive drinking on the human body. But, for some reason, she doesn’t seem to be educated in that aspect of anatomy or in alcoholism. I guess it really isn’t her fault. Doctors get very little education on alcoholism. They have to opt to take the special programs on that.

For those of you who have gotten the same erroneous info, I wanted to give you a little education on how excessive drinking can lead to heart attacks and strokeks.

Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy is the name of the disorder that refers to the
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