Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy

Long-term alcohol abuse can lead to non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. You must drink more than 90 grams of alcohol daily for more than five years to have significant risk of alcoholic dilated cardiomyopathy. That would be drinking more than a liter of wine, 10 shots of liquor, or 10 12-ounce cans of beer daily for more than five years.

If a patient diagnosed with alcoholic dilated cardiomyopathy continues to drink, the patient has a significant risk of dying within 4 years of diagnosis. Cessation of alcohol ingestion is the principle treatment, in addition to treating the symptoms of the heart failure this condition causes. Some studies have shown benefit in controlled moderate drinking in these patients, such as decreasing intake to less than 60 grams of alcohol per day, but the pitfall of this method is that continuing to drink often causes the patient to revert back to their super excessive drinking habits.