April 23, 2024

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Excessive alcohol on important holidays is significantly increased risk of atrial fibrillation

Excessive alcohol on important holidays is significantly increased risk of atrial fibrillation



 

Excessive alcohol on important holidays is significantly increased risk of atrial fibrillation

“Nature” sub-issue: drinking heavily, heart trembling~~! Data analysis of 36,000 people shows that excessive drinking on important holidays is significantly associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation

 

Drinking is a window for emotional catharsis. At moments of reunion, separation, celebration, etc., everyone will always have a little wine to lift the atmosphere; some people will take this opportunity to have a good drink and have a drink to rest.

 

Recently, Gregory M. Marcus and his colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco, based on data analysis of 36,000 people, showed that people are indeed prone to excessive drinking during some important holidays, leading to blood alcohol concentration (BAC). It reaches more than 0.08% within 2 hours. This type of drinking and binge drinking is significantly associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation [1].

 

The findings were published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research.

 

As a reminder, when our BAC is 0.02%-0.08%, it is drunk driving, and if it exceeds 0.08%, it is drunk driving!

 

Excessive alcohol on important holidays is significantly increased risk of atrial fibrillation

Screenshot of the paper’s homepage

 

Atrial fibrillation is the most common persistent abnormal heart rhythm and is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke, heart failure, dementia, and other serious diseases, as well as a significantly increased risk of death .

Symptoms often include fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness, dizziness, etc. [2] .

 

In fact, many studies have proved that long-term alcohol consumption is related to adverse atrial remodeling, which can easily lead to atrial fibrosis and can be used as an independent risk factor for atrial fibrillation [3].

Abstinence from alcohol can effectively reduce the risk of atrial fibrillation, or reduce the burden of disease in patients with atrial fibrillation [4,5].

 

However, recently, everyone suddenly discovered a strange phenomenon – after every holiday binge and drinking tons of alcohol, there will be more and more atrial fibrillation patients in the emergency room.

After a short period of binge drinking, it may even acutely trigger the occurrence of atrial fibrillation [6].

 

To explore the health implications of this phenomenon, Marcus and his colleagues used a large cohort to study the association between binge drinking (BAC ≥ 0.08% within 2 hours) and the risk of atrial fibrillation .

 

They first obtained 1,269,054 test information from 36,158 Americans from the user information database of breathalyzers sold in the market to analyze changes in their BAC.

Information about these individuals’ atrial fibrillation visits was then obtained from the hospital emergency room.

 

During follow-up, the median BAC was 0.04%, and the median number of tests per person per year was 4.06. A total of 1,196,236 AF diagnoses were reported, of which 1,502 were hospitalized for AF.

 

The analysis results are not surprising. The following eight holidays saw the most binge drinking, with more alcohol than usual: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Super Bowl Sunday, the start of summer, Independence Day, Christmas, the FIFA World Cup, and Fatherhood Festival.

 

After multivariate adjustment, compared with other days of the year, the risk of atrial fibrillation was significantly higher after a binge during these eight holiday periods (719 atrial fibrillation visits per 100,000 person-years, P = 0.008). ). The risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation was significantly increased in those who had never experienced atrial fibrillation (1757 cases per 100,000 person-years, P < 0.001).

 

Excessive alcohol on important holidays is significantly increased risk of atrial fibrillation

Left: During these eight days, everyone drank a lot

Right: And more people go to the emergency room because of atrial fibrillation

 

In terms of age, compared with young people, the atria of the elderly (≥65 years old) are more unable to withstand the devastation of blood alcohol surges, and the correlation between binge drinking and the risk of atrial fibrillation is stronger (per 100,000 people). 47 cases per person-year, P = 0.047).

 

Altogether, Marcus and his colleagues analyzed data from 36,000 people showing that blood alcohol levels spiked to 0.08 percent and above within 2 hours and were significantly associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation .

 

The findings are not only a warning to patients with atrial fibrillation, the researchers say, alcohol and binge drinking may indeed trigger acute atrial fibrillation.

On the other hand, it is also a reminder to those who have not experienced atrial fibrillation. Drinking hard for a while may bring about a new experience of serious illness in life.

 

Here are some guidelines for how much you should drink. The CDC defines “moderate drinking” as 1 drink/day for women and 1-2 drinks/day for men. If women drink more than 4 drinks and men drink more than 5 drinks within 2 hours, the blood alcohol concentration usually soars to 0.08%, which is binge drinking [7]. (1 glass here = 12 ounces of beer or 4 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of spirits)

 

In the end, Singularity Cake once again advises everyone not only to have a belly, but also to be in moderation when drinking during the festival. Don’t drink too much at one time, otherwise drinking may become a one-time thing. Don’t let this heartwarming reception turn into an emergency room for atrial fibrillation!

 

 

references:

[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s44161-021-00003-7#ref-CR11

[2] Middeldorp, ME, Ariyaratnam, J., Lau, D. & Sanders, P. Lifestyle modifcations for treatment of atrial fbrillation. Heart 106, 325–332 (2020).

[3]Whitman, IR et al. Alcohol abuse and cardiac disease. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 69, 13–24 (2017).

[4]. Dixit, S. et al. Past alcohol consumption and incident atrial fbrillation: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. PLoS ONE 12, e0185228 (2017).

[5] Voskoboinik, A. et al. Alcohol abstinence in drinkers with atrial fbrillation. N. Engl. J. Med. 382, ​​20–28 (2020).

[6] Marcus, GM et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of intravenous alcohol to assess changes in atrial electrophysiology. JACC Clin. Electrophysiol. 7, 662–670 (2021).

[7] https://www.healthline.com/health-news/binge-drinking-linked-to-episodes-of-afib#What-is-acute-alcohol-consumption?

Excessive alcohol on important holidays is significantly increased risk of atrial fibrillation

(source:internet, reference only)


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