Does alcohol (wine) effect COPD?

Hello Anonymous,

Welcome to EmpowHER.

Drinking regularly may increase your risk of developing COPD. According to some researchers, heavy drinking reduces your levels of glutathione. This antioxidant helps protect your lungs against damage from smoke.

Additionally, regular or chronic drinking prevents your lungs from keeping up a healthy airway. Your mucociliary transport system works continually to clear mucus and contaminants out of your airways. When you drink heavily, the system doesn’t work as effectively as it should.

One-third of adults with chronic health problems, including COPD, report that they drink regularly. Of those, nearly 7 percent report drinking heavily.

A 2016 study indicates that being diagnosed with a medical condition or beginning treatment for a serious disease, like cancer, often prompts some adults to quit drinking. However, that’s not the case for many people with COPD. The same study found that people diagnosed with COPD, as well as other cardiovascular disorders, aren’t as likely to give up drinking because of the diagnosis.

This suggests that many people with COPD regularly drank before being diagnosed with COPD. With this in mind, it’s hard to determine whether their alcohol consumption contributed to their diagnosis.

Regards,
Maryann