Young Irish holidaymakers can drink so much abroad they have to be admitted to hospital with potentially serious heart issues on their return to this country.
The Irish Heart Foundation flagged the problem as it launched a campaign to force people to wake up to the link between excessive drinking and avoidable heart and stroke deaths.
Speaking at the launch of a nationwide campaign to tackle the issue, IHF medical director Dr Angie Brown said that while the issue affects almost all age groups, the most distressing cases are young people — including Leaving Cert and college students — who suffer potentially serious heart problems after returning from drink-fuelled holidays.
“The harsh reality is high alcohol consumption poses a particular risk of cardiac arrhythmias [irregular heart beats] such as atrial fibrillation [linked to a fivefold increase in the risk of stroke], or heart muscle disease known as cardiomyopathy.
“We’ve even seen arrhythmias develop in young people known as ‘holiday heart’ from excessive drinking and dehydration on holidays where they present with palpitations,” the consultant cardiologist added.
An IHF spokeswoman told the Irish Examiner while no figures are kept for this issue, medics across Ireland have repeatedly highlighted cases of “holiday heart” problems to the charity.
She added that while hospital intervention is normally short-term and manageable, failure to take the clear “warning signs” on board can allow the problem “to develop into having long-term consequences”.
In May 2012, when 19-year-old student Everett Glenn died in Pennsylvania, USA, from a heart attack after a heavy drinking session.
Source: Fiachra Ó Cionnaith, Irish Examiner, 27/08/14
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