For about a decade, a 63-year-old man in Japan had spells of dimming vision, and sometimes full blackouts, right after drinking beer. When cardiologists finally tested him drink by drink under continuous monitoring, the trigger turned out to be remarkably specific: only beer taken straight from the refrigerator stalled the electrical signals in his heart, including one pause that lasted 7.9 seconds.
Cold soda didn't do it. Neither did cold sake or beer left at room temperature. Physicians at Saiseikai Izuo Hospital in Osaka described the case in American Heart Journal Plus: Cardiology Research and Practice, where it was published online June 29. The authors called the trigger extraordinarily specific, and the man's treatment ended with a permanent pacemaker.
