Studies have found that alcohol can cause a direct risk of atrial fibrillation

This study provides the first evidence that drinking alcohol significantly increases the chance of arrhythmia within a few hours

This paper was published in the "Annuals of Internal Medicine" on August 30, 2021

"Contrary to popular belief that atrial fibrillation is related to heavy drinking, it seems that a glass of alcohol is enough to increase the risk of disease," said Gregory Marcus, MD, professor of cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco

He said: "Our findings indicate that the occurrence of atrial fibrillation may be neither random nor unpredictable

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia clinically, but so far, research has focused on the risk factors and treatments for the development of this disease, rather than the factors that determine when and where it may occur

A large number of studies have shown that long-term alcohol consumption may be a predictor of this condition, and Marcus and other scientists have shown that it is associated with an increased risk of atrial arrhythmia being diagnosed for the first time

The study focused on 100 recorded patients with atrial fibrillation who drank alcohol at least once a month

Everyone carried the ECG monitor for about four weeks, and whenever they drank a standard-sized alcoholic beverage, they pressed the button

Researchers found that people who had drunk a glass of wine four hours before had a three-fold increase in atrial fibrillation, and those who had drunk two or more cups had a three-fold increase in atrial fibrillation

The authors pointed out the limitations of the study, including patients may forget to press their monitor buttons, or because of embarrassment, they minimized the number of button presses, although these considerations did not affect the alcohol sensor readings

Marcus said: "The effect seems to be linear: the more alcohol you drink, the higher the risk of acute atrial fibrillation

Journal Reference :

1. Gregory M.