Even a little alcohol gets the heart out of sync
Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.
More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.People who drink alcohol regularly are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation. This also applies to healthy people who only drink small amounts.
Scientists around the study director Dr. Dora Csengeri from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) evaluated data from more than 100,000 people who had never suffered from atrial fibrillation before. Over 5,800 of the participants developed this common form of cardiac arrhythmia for the first time during the 14-year study period.
The risk is underestimated
This also affected people with alcohol consumption, which, according to the Federal Center for Health Education, is considered to be low-risk even for women: namely 12 grams of alcohol a day. That is equivalent to a small glass of wine or beer.
People who reported consuming around this amount each day were 16 percent more likely to develop atrial fibrillation than abstainers. With a higher dose, the risk increased further: with up to two drinks (24 grams of pure alcohol) per day, the risk of atrial fibrillation was already 28 percent higher.
"If you have atrial fibrillation, you should avoid alcohol"
"There is a significant correlation between low alcohol consumption and an increased risk of atrial fibrillation," says Csengeri, summarizing the results. The conclusion of the doctor and scientist: "With regard to atrial fibrillation, one must advise against regular consumption of even small amounts."
In doing so, the study refutes the widespread view that regular consumption of small amounts of alcohol does not harm or can even protect the heart. At least that does not apply to atrial fibrillation, says Csengeri. Anyone who already suffers from atrial fibrillation should therefore avoid alcohol or reduce consumption significantly.
Atrial fibrillation promotes strokes
In atrial fibrillation, the atria of the heart work too quickly and irregularly: they fibrillate. Some people do not feel it, others notice a palpitations or palpitations. The problem is that the irregular heartbeat can lead to increased blood clots that migrate to the brain and trigger a stroke there.
Atrial fibrillation occurs comparatively frequently. In Germany, this affects 2.2 percent of the population, that is around 1.8 million people.
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