Effect of alcohol intoxication on the risk of venous thromboembolism: A nationwide retrospective cohort study PMC

A 2013 study of almost 60,000 people found no difference in the risk of blood clots between wine or beer drinkers. Healthcare professionals use mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as one measure of a person’s blood to help diagnose conditions such as anemia. MCV measures the size and volume of a person’s red blood cells (RBCs). Having a high MCV may indicate that someone is consuming high levels of alcohol or has alcohol use disorder (AUD). The CDC publishes that excessive drinking contributed to around 90,000 deaths and shortened lifespan of an average of 30 years for those who died from alcohol consumption-related issues between 2006 and 2010. Drinking too much and too often can cause a plethora of negative health consequences.

More don’ts if you take a blood thinner

A 2017 review explains that alcohol consumption has complex and varying effects on platelets, which are small blood cells that initiate the coagulation cascade, causing blood to clot. Heads up that some of these “don’ts” don’t apply if you’re on one of the newer blood thinners, like Rivaroxaban (Xarelto®) or Apixaban (Eliquis®). So, it’s important to check with your healthcare provider to make sure you’re taking the appropriate precautions. The heart benefits and reduction of the rate of coronary heart disease (CHD) from alcohol are thought to impact men who are over 40 and women who are post-menopausal most often. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) publishes that while post-menopausal women who drank alcohol did seem to have a lower rate of CHD, they also had a higher rate of breast cancer. Seeking professional help for alcohol misuse is an essential step in maintaining your health, especially if you’re taking medications like Eliquis.

Types of Blood Thinners

Antioxidants called polyphenols, of which resveratrol is one, may aid in the protection of the lining of blood vessels within the heart as well. Red wine is fermented for a longer amount of time with the grape skins than white wine is, meaning it will contain more resveratrol, which is why it is typically thought to be more heart healthy. The combination of alcohol and Eliquis can significantly increase your risk of bleeding.

National Institutes of Health

Talk with a healthcare professional to find out which is alcohol a blood thinner blood thinner you qualify for. Get your blood checked often if you’re on warfarin or heparin. Your doctor will test you with an international normalized ratio (INR) test. Some procedures can raise your risk of getting a blood clot where your new valve was placed. In people who drink moderately, the effect of alcohol on platelets is short-lived. Drinking alcohol can sometimes be a touchy issue between patients and doctors.

Therefore, physicians should carefully estimate the risk of VTE in patients with AI. Experts define binge drinking as consuming in excess of four drinks for females or five drinks for males within around 2 hours. NATF provides the information and materials on this site for general information purposes only. You should not rely on the information provided as a substitute for professional medical advice, care, or treatment. This site is not designed to and does not provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment, or services to you or any individual. If you believe you have a medical emergency, call 911 immediately.

Generalized least squares trend (GLST) regression model (21, 22) was used to explore the potential dose–response relation between alcohol intake and VTE risk. Finally, a potential nonlinear dose–response association was examined by modeling alcohol intake using restricted cubic splines with three knots at percentiles 25, 50, and 75% of the distribution (23). Statistical analyses were performed with STATA 10.0 (StataCorp, College Station, TX) with two-sided P values (set at 0.05). Even minor injuries, such as scratches, can damage blood vessels and cause bleeding. To control excessive bleeding and ensure an injury does not become life-threatening, the blood clots.

Talking to Your Doctor

While the mechanism behind why this happens is unclear, the theory is that this moderate consumption reduces stress reactivity in the brain. Drinking alcohol in moderation may have a protective effect on your blood vessels. Some research finds that alcohol increases levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL, aka “good cholesterol”). This healthy type of cholesterol helps protect your arteries and prevent the blood clots that can lead to heart attacks and strokes. The inability of the blood to clot can prove dangerous in injury scenarios. Atherothrombosis and VTE share common risk factors and the pathophysiological characteristics of inflammation, endothelial injury, and hypercoagulability.

• This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of China Medical University (CMUH-104-REC2–115).
• If you have atrial fibrillation, your doctor may prescribe blood thinners (especially anticoagulant medicines) as part of your treatment plan.
• When a person drinks excessively for long periods, their risk for a stroke increases.
• That means contact sports like hockey, soccer or football, or ones that pose a serious risk of injury if you fall (like skiing, gymnastics or ice skating) are best put on the sidelines.

This may lower your risk for the type of strokes caused by blockages in blood vessels. For people younger than 50 years old, before AI could be an independent risk factor for VTE. These findings provide evidence for physicians that enables them to prevent VTE when managing patients with AI.

Dr. AFib

• He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) and American board-certified in general cardiology, echocardiography, and stress-testing, and nuclear cardiology.
• As females retain more alcohol in the bloodstream than males, they are at higher risk of developing problems from combining alcohol with medications.
• A high MCV level may indicate several conditions, including AUD.

For the most part, moderate alcohol consumption is safe for people while taking blood thinners as long as they have no major medical problems and are in overall good health. It’s important to confirm this with a healthcare professional. First, like all meta-analyses, our study has the limitation of being a retrospective analysis. Second, various cut-off values for the categories of alcohol intake were used across studies, which led to a certain degree of heterogeneity. Third, the inadequate adjustment of all known confounding factors in some included studies may distort the summary risk estimate (32).