Alcohol Consumption Can be a Double-Edged Sword for Chronic Kidney Disease Patients PMC

alcohol and kidneys

Smokers who are heavy drinkers have about five times the chance of developing CKD than people who don’t smoke or drink alcohol to excess. Other studies found that alcohol combined with energy drinks, caffeine, or soft drinks can disturb the physiological redox reaction and cause lipoperoxidation in the liver and nephrotoxicity [30,118]. Furthermore, drinkers often like to eat more pickled food and eat less vegetables and fruits, which increases the consumption of salt and cholesterol [119]. Hu et al. found that people who consume high levels of alcohol may have poorer-quality diets than never drinkers and light-to-moderate drinkers; however, the protective effects of alcohol consumption are not offset by their unhealthy diets [83]. A relatively low incidence of cardiovascular disease was found in middle-aged French men, despite a relatively high dietary intake of saturated fats. Age, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and smoking are traditional risk factors of cardiovascular disease in patients with CKD [15–17].

What are the signs of kidney damage from alcohol?

  1. Furthermore, drinkers often like to eat more pickled food and eat less vegetables and fruits, which increases the consumption of salt and cholesterol [119].
  2. Abstinence is one of the characteristics of human drinking habits; many doctors will encourage patients to stop drinking, which may be good for their health [121].
  3. The current study enrolled 45,200 subjects, which was a representative cohort for the Taiwan population.
  4. Heavy drinking can also cause liver disease, which makes your kidneys have to work harder.

Hyperphosphatemia or high levels of phosphorus usually occurs before phosphorus becomes depleted and hypophosphatemia sets in. We will cover more about how alcohol changes hydration levels in more depth below. Refer to our Low Potassium Diet article for lists of high and low potassium foods such as orange juice, tomato juice, and coconut. However, 3 glasses of wine would contribute over 500 milligrams potassium. For example, a glass of wine would not make a significant impact on potassium. Wine and beer are typically low in potassium (less than 200 milligrams per serving).

Alcohol Addiction—How to Find the Right Treatment Program

alcohol and kidneys

There is a lower risk of ischemic heart disease for moderate drinkers without heavy drinking occasions and a higher risk for drinkers with the same average amount who engaged in heavy episodic drinking [76]. Moreover, the harmful effect of episodic heavy drinking seems to be more obvious in people with light alcohol consumption, and it may be related to a rise in platelet reactivity and thrombosis after binge drinking [9]. Excessive drinking can have serious long-term effects on your health. According to the National Kidney Foundation, consuming more than two alcoholic drinks per day increases your risk of high blood pressure, and high blood pressure is a common cause of chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease, or CKD, is a condition where your kidneys are damaged so that they cannot filter blood properly. Some sources state that excessive drinking may cause acute kidney injury, and there may be a link between regular heavy drinking and chronic kidney disease.

Causes of kidney pain after alcohol

Binge drinking (usually more than four to five drinks within two hours) can raise a person’s blood alcohol to dangerous levels. This can cause a sudden drop in kidney function known as “acute kidney injury.” When this happens, dialysis is needed until a person’s kidney function returns to normal. Acute drug overdose death rates national institute on drug abuse nida kidney injury usually goes away in time, but in some cases, it can lead to lasting kidney damage. One of the most common alcohol-related contributing factors to kidney damage and disease is binge drinking. Binge drinking involves consuming an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time.

Too much of this drink prevents the kidneys from retaining any water. Alcohol may indirectly increase the risk of developing a urinary tract infection (UTI). Drinking alcohol if you already have kidney stones may cause them to move quickly.

Several studies have demonstrated that alcohol consumption increases ROS generation, which contributes to lipid peroxidation and damages antioxidant capacity [34,35]. In this review, we focused on the effect of ethyl alcohol on the kidneys and the effect of drinking on patients with CKD, and summarized the clinical and experimental studies. We analyzed and compared the advantages and disadvantages of alcohol consumption for patients with CKD and the contradictions in existing studies, and we hope to provide some information for clinical decision-making and policy formulation.

In most studies, proteinuria was detected by a single measurement using a dipstick test. Although studies have proven that even a single dipstick indication of proteinuria is a significant risk for CKD and ESRD [122], a single dipstick detection can be biased by numerous confounders. In other studies, the researchers used serum creatinine or eGFR to ascertain the kidney function of patients; however, they are not ideal in many drinkers, especially in those with extremely low or high muscle mass due to chronic alcoholism [123]. Some studies found that ethanol has an influence on renal damage, such as apoptosis and epithelial mesenchymal transdifferentiation. Nesreen and Sayed discovered that alcohol consumption significantly increased renal caspase3, caspase8, and caspase9 activity, and ethanol toxicity can increase the ratios of Bax and Bcl-2 in kidney tissues compared to a control group [24,25].

alcohol and kidneys

Acute pancreatitis related to alcohol intake changes the level of phosphorus in the blood. They will be moved to the kidneys where they will be excreted in the urine. However, there is no specific research on how wine affects potassium levels when consuming alcohol. Beer reduced potassium levels while bourbon whiskey increased them.

alcohol and kidneys

Japanese (Yamagata et al. 2007) and Italian (Buja et al. 2011) cohort studies revealed a U-shaped association between alcohol consumption and incidence of proteinuria. It is possible that the contradictory findings are the result of varying effects of different types of alcoholic beverages on the kidney, or the result of different alcohol consumption patterns in different countries. Chronic alcohol consumption induces profound injury in several organs that may affect and aggravate the deleterious effect of ethanol on the kidney. Ethanol itself markedly induces the expression of the microsomal ethanol oxidation system (CYP2E1), producing reactive oxygen species as a byproduct.

Regardless of the precipitating factor, patients who develop kidney failure in the course of alcoholic cirrhosis have a grave prognosis. The events leading to abnormal sodium handling in patients with cirrhosis are complex and controversial, however. Investigators have advanced several theories suggesting the involvement of a constellation mixing ativan and alcohol of hormonal, neural, and hemodynamic mechanisms (Epstein 1996; Laffi et al. 1996). The traditional hypothesis holds that the kidneys of cirrhotic patients retain sodium in response to ascites that develops when liver dysfunction causes blood vessels to expand beyond available plasma volume (i.e., the “underfill” theory).

Sex, age, primary diseases, initial GFR, individual differences, and dietary structure can all influence the results of a study. Due to the metabolism of ethanol, significant amounts of acetate are produced and subsequently incorporated into acetyl-coenzyme-A, a molecule that focus: addiction: relapse prevention and the five rules of recovery pmc participates in metabolism of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. Protein acetylation—adding an acetyl group to a protein—is integral to regulating processes controlled by mitochondria, including fatty acid metabolism and antioxidant defense (Choudhary et al. 2014).

Each of the 2 million functional units (i.e., nephrons) in a pair of normal kidneys forms urine as it filters blood plasma of substances not needed by the body. Within each nephron, blood plasma enters a tiny ball of unusually permeable capillaries (i.e., the glomerulus), filters into a capsule that surrounds the glomerulus, then flows through a long, looping conduit called the nephron tubule. Below are some answers to frequently asked questions about alcohol-induced kidney damage.

According to a 2022 review, symptoms do not usually manifest until stage 4 or 5 of the disease. At these stages, CKD moderately to severely impacts kidney function. Nonetheless, the reviewers note that alcohol metabolism produces free radicals and other harmful by-products that are known to damage the body’s organs and tissues. They filter waste from your blood, regulate the balance of water and minerals in your body and produce hormones. Zepbound and Mounjaro have the same weekly dose (15 mg), and the lone distinction between them is that Zepbound is for weight management, and Mounjaro is for diabetes treatment. Many factors may have contributed to these increases in alcohol-related deaths.

Draw the initial manuscript, and all authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript. If you have any other questions about enjoying alcohol safely, please speak to your doctor or your kidney dietitian. Alcohol can contain varying amounts of potassium and phosphorus. Liquor itself is very low in both potassium and phosphorus, but when included with mixers such as tomato juice or orange juice, can become high potassium beverages. On the other hand, there is evidence showing alcohol may lower the risk of CKD.

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