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I’m really looking forward to Thursday. This year it’s our turn to get Kate, Andy and Rowan for Thanksgiving. If all goes according to plan I’ll be at the airport this evening loading a lovely young woman, a happy toddler, a stroller, a few bags, a car seat and who knows what else into my truck. Andy’s in Manhattan for work and will drive in separately. I think he’s just trying to avoid wrangling all the baggage.

When Kate was little and we lived in Baltimore during my training, my parents lived in Bayonne, N.J. and Mary’s lived in Yonkers, N.Y. Only about 45 minutes apart — close enough that we felt obliged to have holiday lunch one place and dinner at the other. We therefore have no pictures of Mary, Kate AND me on holidays for the first three years. Why? Because at any one moment I was either carrying “baby stuff” from a car into a house, or from a house back into the car, and unavailable for the celebration. A drink at the end of those day’s travels was always welcome.

Let’s be honest, at this festive time of year, filled with family gatherings, holiday parties and merrymaking, it’s also a season of eating treats, big meals and indulging in some cocktails. But too many drinks over the holidays isn’t good for you heart. Drinking too much could cause a condition called “holiday heart syndrome.”

Drinking excessively for a night or several nights in a row—like some people do during the holiday season—can cause heart arrhythmias where you heart beats irregularly.

Too much alcohol in a short amount of time can cause two types of irregular heartbeats: Atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia.

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is when your heart doesn’t pump blood out of its upper chambers effectively because the beat turns into an uncoordinated wiggle. Blood puddles in the upper chambers and sometimes clot. A clot that forms in the heart could travel to the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism; the brain, causing a stroke; or other organs, causing a blockage.

Ventricular tachycardia is an abnormal heartbeat that originates in the lower chambers of the heart. Drinking too much can make the heart’s pacemaking cells irritable. This predisposes to extra or rapid heartbeats and disrupts the rhythm effective pumping depends on. When the rhythm is off, it often doesn’t allow enough blood to fill the heart chambers and therefore, too little blood reaches the body.

These heartbeat disorders can make you feel dizzy and, in some cases, lead to cardiac arrest and even death.

Binge drinking is a common culprit in those unfortunate folks who have a cardiac rhythm problem related to overindulging at holiday parties.

Binge drinking is defined by how much alcohol you consume in a short amount of time. For men, it’s five drinks in two hours; for women, it’s four drinks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While alcohol is one of the main factors, other risks to developing holiday heart syndrome can come from what you eat.

Many of us seem to overeat during the holidays. t’s not uncommon to eat more cookies, cakes and desserts, and go back for second helpings at Thanksgiving and other holidays.

Overeating can stretch the stomach and trigger your body to begin digesting food. For most people, this slows the heart. But for some others, it can trigger an irregular heartbeat.

Eating salty foods can trigger worsening of heart failure symptoms for those who have a history of heart problems or high blood pressure.

To prevent holiday heart syndrome it’s best to follow the advice: Everything in moderation.

No one wants to end up in the hospital during the holidays because they went overboard on the turkey and gravy, or had too many cocktails. However, if you feel dizzy, short of breath, pain in your chest or lightheadedness, you should call 911.

You’re on your own carrying the stuff in from the car …

Happy Thanksgiving.

Alfred Casale To Your Health
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_casale-4.jpg.optimal.jpgAlfred Casale To Your Health

By Alfred Casale

To Your Health

Dr. Alfred Casale is chairman of surgery for the Geisinger Heart Institute, co-director of the Cardiovascular Service Line for the Geisinger Health System and Associate Chief Medical Officer for the Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center. Readers may write to him via [email protected].