How does vodka affect blood vessels: narrows or dilates them, and can it be used for treatment?

Even a schoolboy knows how bad alcohol is. Vodka hits the liver, negatively affects the human psyche, destroys brain cells, shortens life expectancy by 10-15 years.

And there are also statistics that people who drink alcohol are many times more likely to die from cardiovascular pathologies.

Others claim that a small amount of vodka will help to dilate the arteries and thus cope with high blood pressure, and the harm to other body systems will be minimal.

Even Scientific research present counterintuitive results, indicating that moderate alcohol consumption may even reduce the risk of developing certain cardiovascular diseases, while abuse increases their risk.

Who is right and how alcohol affects the cardiovascular system and the body as a whole? Do the vessel lumen narrow or expand after drinking vodka? Is the influence really so harmful that it must be completely abandoned? Let's figure it out.

How does it affect blood vessels?

What does she do with the vessels? There is an opinion that vodka reduces blood pressure even with a hypertensive crisis. And, indeed, a small volume relaxes the vascular wall, relieves spasms and increases the lumen. This helps reduce blood pressure in combination.

But if everything is so good, then why are doctors against alcohol (let's not take into account the general harm to the body)? The fact is that with a subsequent increase in the dose, the opposite effect occurs. A lot of adrenaline is released, which determines a sharp spasm and, as a result, an increase in pressure. This also leads to a spasm of the cerebral vessels, which is accompanied by a headache.

It is not only the tone that is involved in increasing blood pressure. Some other factors play a role:

1. Adrenaline. This stress hormone helps to mobilize the body and readiness and danger. When alcohol is consumed, it is released in a large amount. In such conditions, not only the pressure increases, but also the rest of the organs suffer.
2. Kidneys. Prolonged intake of even a small amount of vodka leads to deterioration of the urinary system. The water-salt metabolism is disrupted, the load on the heart increases
3. Increased heart rate. The heart beats faster and works with more force. Pathologically altered vessels have difficulty coping with such a volume, and stagnation is formed. In turn, organs that have not received enough nutrition signal the need to improve heart function. It starts working even harder, but to no avail. When such episodes happen all the time, the heart just can't stand it. About the dangers of alcohol for the heart we talked in a separate article.

Somehow ambiguously comes out. It turns out that dependence on the amount of alcohol consumed is important. But then how much do you need to drink to get an antihypertensive effect? Everything is individual and depends on many factors, but there are averages.

Doctors considered that 20-30 grams of high-quality cognac or 50 grams of vodka is quite enough for a therapeutic effect.

What other factors determine the degree of harm?

1. The age of the person who uses. Degrees bring more negativity with age. What a young person may not notice, an older person will not tolerate. The wear of the body and the presence of concomitant diseases play a role.
2. Measure. Even a small increase in the boundary measure leads to a significant deterioration of the condition.
3. The quality of the drink. A little bit of high-quality alcohol will help to urgently cope with hypertension. But, at this time, the desire to save money can play a cruel joke on you. Inexpensive varieties are made with a violation of technology and the addition of bad components.
4. General health status. If a healthy man drinks a glass, it will not bring illness. And if there are health problems? When the heart is playing tricks, the kidneys can not cope with the load, and memory often fails. In this case, you may not wait for an ambulance.
5. Type of drink. Half a glass of white wine or 50 grams of pure vodka can help with high blood pressure. At the same time, red wine and champagne will help with hypotension.

Compatibility rules must also be followed, and it is advisable not to mix at all. Only one type of drink can be consumed per day. The joint consumption of other alcohol with champagne has a 5 times worse effect on the body, and also increases the chance of getting poisoned.

How does it affect blood flow?

How does vodka affect blood circulation in blood vessels? In addition to direct effects in the form of spasm and relaxation, vodka has other properties:

1. Thrombosis. Clots form that block blood flow and constrict the lumen of blood vessels. The destroyed cells, joining together, form a glomerulus. The further away from the heart, the thinner the vessels become, so the clot, which easily moved through the artery, will simply get stuck in the arterioles and block the path to the capillaries. Thus, the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to a certain area is stopped. This makes votka extremely harmful product for blood vessels .
2. Thinning of the wall. The vessels of a frequent drinker become brittle and excessively porous. The affected system begins to cope poorly with its functions. Numerical point hemorrhages appear.
3. Myocardial ischemia. Deterioration of coronary blood flow is especially acute. The heart muscle, which already has to work hard, is extremely unsatisfactory to eat due to damage to the coronary arteries. Partial loss of nutrition leads to coronary heart disease, and complete loss leads to myocardial infarction.
4. Blood clots. It has been clinically proven that the liquids of a person who consumes hot drinks daily are 20% thicker than those of those who have completely given up on them.

Comparison with vodka

Recall, about the effect of cognac on blood vessels we talked in the last article. First, let's figure out what, in fact, they differ in. Is there a difference between them from a medical point of view?

1. Vodka. First, purified water is prepared, natural alcohol obtained from cereals is added, and the finished mixture is purified several more times.
2. Cognac. The cooking process is more complicated for him. Several types of grapes are used in the preparation. First they get the juice, and then they wait for fermentation in a natural way. Only the presence of antiseptics and antioxidants is allowed, but strictly limited. The resulting wine is distilled, resulting in 60% cognac alcohol. Then comes the time of endurance. The resulting solution is aged in fully wooden barrels for at least 3 years. As a result of this procedure, part of the degrees is lost, so the finished cognac has no more than 45%. At the end of the procedure, sugar, oak chips, water or other ingredients are added, according to the recipe.

In general, if you compare these two types, you can see that the percentage of alcohol (and in fact it causes maximum harm) in both drinks is the same. It turns out that they have the same harm. But it's worth noting that cognac provides antioxidant properties. Well, compliance with the measure is an important component of treatment.

5 rules of use

If you can't completely give up drinking, then at least you should follow a few simple rules:

1. Follow the measure. Even a small increase in the dose entails a strong destructive effect. You won't even notice how your organs are slowly dying. It's only with age that you start to notice the consequences.
2. Do not mix. It is recommended to use one type. For example, if you drink various tinctures a day, then the bad effect increases significantly. In addition, there is a high risk of poisoning.
3. Combination with food. Never drink on an empty stomach. During consumption, it is necessary to eat hearty and fatty foods. Such a simple measure will limit the absorption of bad substances, and accelerate the elimination. You should also give up cigarettes.
4. Contraindications. People suffering from diabetes should absolutely not drink. This combination of alcohol and sugar will simply ruin you, because both the first and the second slowly destroy the capillary wall. And it will also raise the sugar level. Be careful!
5. Frequency of use. If you don't drink often, you can get a positive effect. With increasing frequency, the harmful effect accumulates and all benefits are leveled.

Absolute contraindications

But, there are a number of conditions in which alcohol is strictly contraindicated. Here are the most basic ones:

• Alcohol addiction. Even if the disease has receded and the addiction is no more, even a small portion reverses the problem. You can't joke with that.
• Drug incompatibility. There are a number of drugs that cannot be combined. Some stop acting, others intensify the harmful effect. And there are those that form a "rattling mixture". Sedatives, hypnotics, anti-inflammatory, tranquilizers, some antibiotics, antihistamines, antispasmodics, antiplatelet agents, hormones and a number of others. Therefore, if you are taking any medications, ask your doctor about compatibility.
• Chronic diseases. The presence of any chronic diseases is an excuse to limit yourself to one glass. But there are conditions in which this is strictly prohibited. These include diabetes mellitus, ischemic disease, hepatitis, atherosclerosis, gastric ulcer, mental illness and the postoperative period.

Some interesting facts

Finally, check out the interesting facts:

1. Fat people get drunk faster. Muscle mass is very susceptible to alcohol, so there is much less intoxicating substance in the brain. If you want to boost your abilities, run to the gym.
2. Strange rituals of Vikings. Vikings used it from the skulls of defeated enemies
3. The strongest beer in the world. Do you still consider beer to be low alcohol? But in vain. "Snake Venom" from Brewmeister is the strongest beer. Its strength reaches 70%.
4. The popularity of the drink. About 6 billion liters of vodka are drunk annually.
5. Dose. In terms of ethanol, a stack of vodka, a glass of wine and half a liter of beer are approximately equal.

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In modern society, it is almost impossible to do without alcohol at all. By following the rules of caution, you can not only minimize the harmful effects, but also benefit from these drinks. I wish everyone to feel the measure and the absence of the need to save on quality.