Enlarged red blood cells can be from alcohol

Dear Doctors: My husband is having an elective surgery soon. It requires full anesthesia, so he has had a lot of pre-op tests. One of the blood tests showed that his red blood cells are too big. The nurse said it happens when you drink too much. What causes that? Is it dangerous?

Dear Reader: When someone’s red blood cells become abnormally large, it is a condition known as macrocytosis. These enla…