Originally published September 26 2005
Experts warn that excessive drinking may lead to atrial fibrillation
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Men who drink heavily -- more than a case of beer a week or an average of at least 35 mixed drinks weekly -- are 45 percent more likely to develop atrial fibrillation, and researchers estimate about 5 percent of all atrial fibrillation cases among men are caused by heavy drinking.
Men who drink more than a case of beer a week -- or an average of at least 35 mixed drinks weekly -- have 45% greater risk for developing atrial fibrillation than non-drinkers, researchers reported today.
But moderate drinking does not increase risk of atrial fibrillation in either men or women, said a team of researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center here who reported their findings in the Sept. 13 issue of Circulation, Journal of the American Heart Association.
On the basis of this analysis the researchers estimated that about 5% of cases of atrial fibrillation among men are attributable to heavy drinking.
There was no link between alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation in women, but they noted that few women consumed 35 or more drinks a week.
Kenneth J. Mukamal, M.D., M.P.H., of Harvard Medical School, and colleagues analyzed data from the 16,415 patient Copenhagen City Heart Study, a prospective cohort study.
Holiday heart, he said, refers to heart rhythm disturbances that are reported by vacationers, when people are likely to be drinking heavier-than-normal amounts of alcohol.
There was no difference in risk of atrial fibrillation between non-drinkers and moderate drinkers -- defined as drinking fewer than 14 drinks a week.
Dr. Mukamal's group proposed a number of mechanisms to explain the link between alcohol and atrial fibrillation including the possibility that heavy drinking may act as a cardiotoxin and change atrial structure and size, an effect suggested by experiments in rats.
"Second, chronic heavy drinking could have direct proarrhythmic effects.
Third, heavier drinkers are likely to have repeated exposure to episodic heavy drinking (i.e. binge drinking), which could increase the risk of triggering a single episode of AF," they wrote.
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