Consuming smaller amounts of alcohol more frequently is a greater risk factor for atrial fibrillation than binge drinking, according to a study published in EP Europace Oct. 17.
Jong Il-Choi, of Korea University College of Medicine and Korea University Anam Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues examined the impact of frequent and binge drinking on the risk of new-onset AFib in a cohort of 9,776,959 individuals without any indication of an arrhythmia at baseline. Prior studies have established a linear connection between alcohol and atrial fibrillation—finding risk increased by 8% per 12 grams of alcohol consumed per week—but until now it’s been unclear which variable is most important in that equation: the amount of alcohol consumed or number of drinking sessions per week.
“Recommendations about alcohol consumption have focused on reducing the absolute amount rather than the frequency,” Choi said in a statement. “Our study suggests that drinking less often may also be important to protect against atrial fibrillation.”
All participants in Choi et al.’s study underwent a national health checkup in 2009 and were followed until 2017 for occurrence of AFib. The authors found that the number of drinking sessions per week was a stronger risk factor for new-onset arrhythmias than binge drinking—compared with drinking twice per week, those who drank every day saw a 41% increased risk of AFib.
Drinking once a week was least risky, resulting in a 7% decreased risk of AFib. No link was found between binge drinking and new-onset arrhythmia.
“Our study suggests that frequent drinking is more dangerous than infrequent binge drinking with regard to atrial fibrillation,” Choi said. “The number of drinking sessions was related to atrial fibrillation onset regardless of age and sex. Repeated episodes of atrial fibrillation triggered by alcohol may lead to overt disease. In addition, drinking can provoke sleep disturbance, which is a known risk factor for atrial fibrillation.”
The team found a 2% increase in the risk of new-onset AFib with every additional gram of alcohol participants consumed per week. Compared to “mild” drinkers, those who drank no alcohol, moderate amounts, or high amounts of alcohol saw 8.6%, 7.7% and 21.5% elevated risks, respectively.
Choi said the protective effect of mild drinking needs to be confirmed, since it’s unclear whether there’s an actual benefit to mild drinking or if it’s just a “confounding effect of unmeasured variables.” In all, he recommended reducing both the frequency and weekly amount of alcohol consumed to prevent AFib.
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.