{"id":45096,"date":"2023-08-06T08:35:18","date_gmt":"2023-08-06T12:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/investing\/afib-and-alcohol-what-to-know-about-causes-prevention\/"},"modified":"2023-08-06T08:35:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T12:35:20","slug":"afib-and-alcohol-what-to-know-about-causes-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=45096","title":{"rendered":"AFib and Alcohol: What to Know About Causes, Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"js-article__body\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-sbid=\"WP-BAR-0000711097\">\n<p>Every December and January, emergency room doctors see patients with Holiday Heart Syndrome, a bout of atrial fibrillation produced by heavier-than-normal drinking.<\/p>\n<p>Now, there is growing concern that even moderate alcohol consumption can trigger episodes of atrial fibrillation\u2014commonly called AFib\u2014fast and chaotic beating of the heart that can lead to stroke and other health problems.<\/p>\n<div class=\"paywall\">\n<p>\u201cThe data for alcohol [and AFib] are quite strong,\u201d says Dr. James Freeman, a cardiologist at the Yale School of Medicine.<\/p>\n<p>People who had previous incidents of AFib are most at risk. A 2021 study by the University of California at San Francisco found that a single alcoholic drink doubled the risk of atrial fibrillation within four hours, while two or more drinks tripled it. A separate UCSF study found that as blood alcohol levels rose, electrical properties of the heart changed in a way that made it more prone to AFib<\/p>\n<p>AFib is a common malady, but it can be quite dangerous. Because the heart pumps erratically during AFib, blood can pool and clot more easily. Those clots can go anywhere in the body, causing stroke, heart attacks, or organ problems.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople with AFib are at high risk of stroke, high risk of heart attack, high risk of kidney problems,\u201d says Dr. Gregory Marcus, the UCSF cardiologist who conducted the alcohol studies. People with AFib also appear to be at higher risk of dementia, possibly because small clots lodge in their brain, Dr. Marcus says.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes AFib comes and goes. Other times it can persist for days, months, or even years, causing discomfort and elevated heart rate. \u201cSome people feel very uncomfortable,\u201d Marcus says. \u201cOthers may not have any symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Doctors sometimes perform a procedure called an ablation to treat AFib, threading catheters through a vein into the heart, and then using heat or cold to create scars in the heart to block the faulty electrical signals and restore a normal heartbeat. <\/p>\n<p>Alcohol use is by no means the only risk factor for AFib. Hypertension, coronary disease, and diabetes also make the condition more likely. But alcohol consumption\u2014along with sleep apnea and obesity\u2014is one of the more modifiable risk factors, says Yale\u2019s Freeman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the easiest things we can do is lose weight or stop drinking,\u201d he says. \u201cWe know that reducing use of alcohol, or eliminating it completely, can be a potent treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What about people who don\u2019t already have AFib? Is drinking alcohol safe for them? Doctors Freeman and Marcus say that heavy drinking appears to contribute to onset of AFib, and older Americans should be even more cautious about alcohol use. That\u2019s because AFib rates rise with age. The rate is around 4% for those in their 60s, but can be as high as 10% to 17% in those over age 80. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s less clear whether alcohol causes AFib in light to moderate drinkers. Some studies have found links, but at least one well-regarded study found that low levels of alcohol\u2014as long you weren\u2019t drinking beer or cider\u2014were associated with the lowest level of AFib risk. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe really don\u2019t know, there could even be benefits,\u201d says Marcus, who doesn\u2019t have AFib and drinks a glass of red wine at times with his dinner.<\/p>\n<p>But for people who have had an incident of AFib, there is now little doubt that alcohol can help bring on more episodes. A 2020 study in Australia took 70 regular drinkers with AFib and divided them into two groups. One group continued to drink and AFib recurred in 73% of them during a 6-month study period. The other group largely abstained, and 53% experienced AFib. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf someone has ever had an episode with AFib, and wants to do everything possible to minimize AFib,\u201d Marcus says, \u201cit would be to cut out all alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Write to Neal Templin at neal.templin@barrons.com<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/articles\/alcohol-atrial-fibrillation-afib-causes-heart-condition-ed07e4fd?mod=investing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every December and January, emergency room doctors see patients with Holiday Heart Syndrome, a bout of atrial fibrillation produced by heavier-than-normal drinking. Now, there is growing concern that even moderate alcohol consumption can trigger episodes of atrial fibrillation\u2014commonly called AFib\u2014fast and chaotic beating of the heart that can lead to stroke and other health problems. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-45096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>AFib and Alcohol: What to Know About Causes, Prevention | iFintechWorld<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every December and January, emergency room doctors see patients with Holiday Heart Syndrome, a bout of atrial fibrillation produced by heavier-than-normal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=45096\" 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