Drinking young does do damage

FLO MARTIN

On Sunday, April 7, two years ago, Brian Martin (my second son)

suffered sudden cardiac death on a basketball court in Irvine.

Exactly one mile away, at Orange County Fire Station No. 4,

paramedics Richard Koshaba and Jim Owen went into action after

getting the 911 call. What they found at courtside was a 33-year-old

male, obviously in excellent physical shape, pretty much dead. His

skin was already gray and cold to the touch. His body had stopped

convulsing. Neither cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), nor the

lidocaine injection into the heart, had any effect. Fortunately, they

had a portable defibrillator. As Brian’s lifetime friend, Rick Van

Eyk, yelled, “Come on, Bri, you can make it,” over and over again,

the paddles were applied -- and then the paddles worked.

Why the paddles and nothing else?

Well, since age 28, Brian has had defibrillator paddles applied to

his shaven chest on 15 different occasions, all but one in a hospital

setting. I was with him the first time. The sickening thud of the

shock left me sobbing in the waiting room. Thank God for Kleenex.

What does this procedure entail? Well, first, the doctors put the

patient under general anesthesia. Then, they stick a wired pad on the

chest and another on the back. Then, they hit the switch and apply

electrical energy. Before his second “cardio version” -- the common

term -- a nurse asked if Brian wished to have a minister or priest

pray with him. Scary.

Then came the times when the initial 200-joule jolt wasn’t enough

to restart Brian’s heart. The meter would be cranked up to 250.

Still, no heartbeat. Then, the meter would be cranked to 300 and the

body would literally rise up off the table. This time, the heart

would kick over. Brian often showed us his red badge of courage -- a

huge, round, ugly burn on his chest. On several other such occasions,

Brian actually awoke from the anesthesia during the intense jolt. The

pain was horrible, he said -- like being kicked in the chest by a

horse.

Five agonizing years of blood thinners, beta-blockers, month-long

bouts of atrial fibrillation rhythm, regular “cardio versions” and

the April 7 “death.” Finally, thank God, this past January, something

went right. Brian underwent a second heart catheterization and

ablation. Now, Brian’s heart seems to be OK, and we are regularly

putting our hands together in prayer for his complete recovery.

So, what started it all? Why was this healthy specimen of a young

man hit so hard? Was he doing anything different? No. Did he have a

family history of heart disease? No. What, then?

The answer is alcohol. After Brian’s initial episodes, I went

online and began to research atrial fibrillation. What I found was

incredible. Atrial fibrillation among younger people is connected to

binge drinking. Yup, liquor makes you sicker.

“To party” is now considered a verb. Brian and his high school and

college pals partied often. My former students partied hearty a lot,

too. Every new school year, during the five years of Brian’s illness,

these students would hear of his “cardio versions,” his vulnerability

of being on blood thinners, and then, of course, of his “death.” I

used such teachable moments to get on my soapbox about the danger of

weekend drinking.

Five years have passed, and the statistics are now even more

incredible. On Monday, the Google search engine found 1,500 -- yes,

1,500 websites -- that included “atrial fibrillation,” “alcohol,” and

“binge drinking.”

One study showed alcohol as the cause in 65% of cases of onset of

atrial fibrillation in patients younger than 65s. Scary.

The Merck Manual read:

“Alcohol ingestion (binge drinking or chronic heavy intake) is

associated with [atrial fibrillation]. Its potential role should be

considered in every [atrial fibrillation] patient.”

The Institute of Alcohol Studies website stated:

“Alcohol intoxication diminishes myocardial contraction, which

increases the risk of acute heart failure. Alcohol intoxication at

least doubles the risk of heart arrhythmias, particularly atrial

fibrillation, which can lead to heart failure and sudden death. The

increased risk of sudden cardiac death occurs in the absence of

preexisting heart disease. Studies have shown that 30% to 60% of all

cases of atrial fibrillation, with other causes excluded, are due to

alcohol, particularly in younger men. One quarter of all sudden

cardiac death in young men is due to alcohol intoxication.”

Parents, wake up and smell the coffee. My husband and I had our

heads stuck in the sand. Don’t let that happen to you. Your preteens,

your teens and your college-age children are all in danger if they

party on the weekends. Not my kids, you say? Wrong. Almost every

weekend, a large percentage of our kids do just that -- get drunk.

Just ask.

* FLO MARTIN is a retired high school teacher, lectures part-time

at Cal State Fullerton in the Foreign Language Education program and

supervises student teachers in their classrooms.