HMN 2025: How Heart activity reveals early signs of problem alcohol use

Cardiovascular tests performed during primary care visits may give evidence of increasing alcohol use, which could help clinicians identify and treat risky drinking behaviors early.

In a study published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, researchers found that blood pressure and heart rate readings were higher in people who drank more heavily.

The findings confirm the negative effects of alcohol on the heart and support the use of cost-effective cardiovascular tests during primary care visits for people who drink alcohol in order to prevent more serious alcohol use problems and related health consequences.

The researchers explored whether mean arterial pressure and electrocardiogram, both inexpensive and noninvasive tests of heart function, could detect differences in cardiovascular activity between high-risk and low-risk drinkers.

Researchers measured heart function using a blood pressure cuff and an electrocardiogram, commonly referred to as an ECG or EKG, which measures the rhythm and rate of contraction and relaxation in the atrium and ventricle sections of the heart as it beats.

The approximately 1,100 study participants, who included people being treated for alcohol use disorder and people with no history of an alcohol use disorder diagnosis, were assessed for four different alcohol use phenotypes.

Analysis of test results found that higher mean arterial pressure and heart rate were associated with a greater likelihood of high-risk drinking and with more severe alcohol dependence and alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Additionally, increased P-wave axis, a measure of atrial function, was associated with a lower likelihood of high-risk drinking.

The associations between cardiovascular health and alcohol-related outcomes were particularly pronounced among people who are not yet engaged in high-risk drinking.

These findings suggest that noninvasive and inexpensive measures of heart rate, artery pressure and P-wave axis, can identify worsening alcohol use in people who do not yet meet the threshold for high-risk drinking, facilitating earlier intervention and treatment.

Excessive alcohol use contributes to more than 200 health conditions and almost 20,000 deaths caused by heart disease and stroke in the U.S. each year. Yet, less than 15% of the 14 million adults diagnosed with alcohol use disorder receive any medical treatment.