Binge drinking – five drinks in two hours for men and four in the same time for women – can lead to atrial fibrillation
Repeated episodes of binge drinking can lead to altered heart rhythms or even a condition known as atrial fibrillation which is the most commonly found condition where the heart rate fluctuates beyond the normal range. The association between binge drinking and altered heart rate has been an observed phenomenon for long, leading to the coinage of the term “Holiday Heart Syndrome.”
An animal study presented at the American Heart Asocation’s basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Session linked binge drinking (five drinks within two hours for men and four drinks within two hours for women) to abnormal heart rhythms. “Around the holidays, opportunities for celebration, often accompanied by heavy drinking” occur during a brief period of time. Unfortunately, this sometimes sends revelers, even those with no previous heart condition, to the hospital with a racing or abnormally beating heart,” said Saugat Khanal, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a post-doctoral scholar in the department of physiology & cell biology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio.
In the study, more than 70% of the mice that were given alcohol mimicking binge drinking developed atrial fibrillation.
Khanal added: “Our study in mice explored the mechanism of alcohol-induced arrhythmia and a possible way to prevent it in the future. Repeated binge drinking can lead to serious arrhythmias. This includes AFib, which is the most common type of arrhythmia. AFib can raise the risk of stroke and heart failure. About one-third of new AFib diagnoses are related to alcohol use. Recurrence of AFib is common in habitual binge drinkers. The link between repeated binge drinking and arrhythmia at times of celebration is so well-known that medical professionals call it holiday heart syndrome which is caused by repeated binge drinking over the holidays.”
The study was limited because researchers used a mouse model to replicate human holiday heart syndrome. Although the mouse model showed promising results, it may not have fully captured the complexities of binge drinking in humans and related cardiovascular consequences.
