A member asked:

When i have alcohol more often than not i get an elevated heart rate. is it the sugar in the alcohol ?

2 doctors weighed in across 2 answers

Heart rate: It is the alcohol in the alcohol causing it.

Answered 8/25/2014

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No: The likely cause of increased heart rate with alcohol ingestion is vasodilation. That is, alcohol causes your blood vessels to dilate leading to a chain reaction in the body resulting in a rise in heart rate. There have been some consideration that alcohol may affect the vagal stimulation of the heart, preventing a compensatory slowing of the heart rate, but this has not been proven.

Answered 8/25/2014

3.8k views

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