Binge drinking increases the risk of the most common type of irregular heart rhythm, a study has revealed.
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) has been dubbed “holiday heart syndrome” by doctors as it is often caused by long drinking sessions during the summer.
Researchers at the Ohio State University College of Medicine found that binge drinking-related arrhythmias are linked to increased levels of a stress-induced protein called JNK2. This can cause heart cells to mishandle calcium and misfire, resulting in the heart beating too fast or irregularly.
The study found that more than 70 per cent of mice given alcohol to mimic binge drinking developed AFib.
However, researchers discovered that giving the mice a molecule named Alda-1 could prevent the activation of JNK2 – reducing the chance of developing an arrhythmia.
Dr Saugat Khanal, a scholar at Ohio State University College of Medicine and the study’s lead author, said: “Around the holidays, opportunities for celebration—often accompanied by heavy drinking—occur during a brief period of time. Unfortunately, this sometimes sends revellers, even those with no previous heart condition, to the hospital with a racing or abnormally beating heart.
“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.”
Someone with atrial fibrillation is five times more likely to have a potentially fatal or life-changing stroke, according to the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
Common symptoms include palpitations, breathlessness and dizziness.
Analysis by the BHF has found that 1 in 45 people in the UK are living with the condition.
Dr Khanal said that developing new drugs that suppress JNK2 may be an effective way of reducing the risk of arrhythmia and combatting holiday heart syndrome.
Researchers stressed that the study was limited as it used a mouse model to replicate human biological processes.
“Although the mouse model showed promising results, it may not have fully captured the complexities of binge drinking in humans and related cardiovascular consequences,” they said.
Binge drinking is defined as consuming more than 8 units of alcohol in a single session for men, or more than 6 units in a single session for women.
More than a quarter (27 per cent) of adults binge drink on their heaviest drinking days, according to Alcohol Change UK.
The study was published by the American Heart Association on Wednesday.
