The content of this podcast is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended

as, nor should it be considered a substitute for professional medical advice.

Oh, how I feel.

Bitchy, bitchy, bitchy, bitchy, bitchy, bitchy, bitchy, bitchy, bitchy and bitchy.

Hello, this is Karen Nicol family nurse practitioner, and you are listening to Itchy and

Bitchie, a podcast that provides answers to your many unanswered health questions.

We are rapidly approaching the holiday season, and I know this because it is the first week of

November, and Christmas decorations

abound in all of the stores. I thought it might be helpful to re-air an episode from December of

23 about something called Holiday Heart Syndrome. Learning about this celebration-induced health problem could save a life.

Here's the episode. We have entered the holiday season, so I wanted to talk to you about a holiday

health problem that you may not have ever known existed. It is called Holiday Heart Syndrome. During parties and family

gatherings around the holiday season, it is possible you or someone else in attendance could

experience holiday heart syndrome. Essentially, it's a condition brought on by drinking too much alcohol. Increased salt in the

diet and increased stress during the holidays are also contributors. This phrase was first coined

in the 1970s by a doctor to describe the increase in numbers of otherwise healthy people,

otherwise healthy people, showing up around the holidays with arrhythmias,

which are abnormal heartbeats after binge drinking.

So let's start with figuring out what qualifies as binge drinking.

It is when a man drinks five or more

alcoholic drinks over a two-hour period, or when a woman drinks four or more alcoholic drinks

over two hours. Most people who binge drink are not dependent on alcohol. So binge drinkers mostly are non-alcoholics. Even though we're

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