NEWS
KOREAN HEART STUDY: ONE GLASS A DAY WORSE THAN OCCASIONAL BINGE DRINKING
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
18-10-2019
One glass of wine a day can increase the chance of irregular heartbeat that can raise the risk of stroke, according to a study conducted in South Korea.
Result of this study was published in medical journal EP Europace which is the official journal of the European Heart Rhythm Association under the European Society of Cardiology.
While heavy consumption of alcohol is a known risk factor for irregular heartbeat, the Korean researchers aimed at studying the relative importance of frequent drinking vs. binge drinking.
The study involves looking at the drinking habits of 9.8 million people spanning a period of 8 years.
Scientists asked the participants, who had no irregular heartbeat and who underwent a national health check-up in 2009, how many times they drink per week, the amount of alcohol in each session, and the amount overall.
The participants were followed-up in 2017 to see if they had a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation or irregular heartbeat.
Researchers found that frequent drinking is more dangerous than infrequent binge drinking with regard to atrial fibrillation.
Compared with participants who drink twice per week, people who drink once per week showed a lower risk and those who drink everyday had the highest risk of atrial fibrillation, regardless of age and sex.
They found that the risk increased by eight per cent for every drink session over a week while the amount of alcohol intake per session did not present any clear association with atrial fibrillation.
The study concluded that avoiding the habit of consuming a low but frequent amount of alcohol might therefore be important to prevent atrial fibrillation.
Dr Jong-Il Choi, leader of the study, said atrial fibrillation can cause “dreadful complications” that could wreck lives. He said that repeated episodes of atrial fibrillation triggered by alcohol may lead to overt diseases including stroke.
However, British Heart Foundation cardiologist Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan said the study has limitations. She said the participants were asked about their drinking habits only once, yet their habits could have changed over time.
She reiterated that it’s important to stay within drinking guidelines while keeping some days alcohol free.
(the writer can be contacted at: SLawMathews@thewinechronicle.com)
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