Regular drinking increases burden of atrial fibrillation risk in young adults: JAMA

South Korea: Even in young individuals between the ages of 20 and 39, persistent moderate to heavy drinking and a larger cumulative alcohol consumption load may raise the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), says a study published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

Given the dismal prognosis of the condition, guidelines advise that all risk factors for early-onset atrial fibrillation, including lifestyle variables, be carefully addressed. The relationship between cumulative alcohol use and the risk of atrial fibrillation in young adults (20–39 years old), particularly among frequent drinkers, is not well understood. Minju Han and colleagues undertook this study in order to investigate the relationship between alcohol use and the incidence of incident atrial fibrillation in young individuals.

An extensive population-based cohort study of people between the ages of 20 and 39 who had four consecutive annual health exams between 2009 and 2012 was carried out using the National Health Insurance Service database. Assigning 1 point per year to drink more than moderately (≥105 g of alcohol per week) allowed researchers to calculate the cumulative burden of alcohol consumption over a period of four years. In addition, a semiquantitative cumulative load was determined by allocating 0, 1, 2, and 3 points to abstinence, light drinking (<105 g or less per week), moderate drinking (105-210 g or more per week), and excessive drinking (≥210 g or more per week), respectively. 

The key findings of this study were:

1. The final analysis covered 1,537,836 individuals in total.

2. Stratified by moderate to heavy drinking, the 4-year cumulative burden of alcohol consumption showed that 889382 participants (57.8%) were in the burden 0 group, 203374 participants (13.2%), 148087 participants (9.6%), 144023 participants (9.4%), and 152970 participants (9.9%) were in the burden 4 group.

3. 3066 patients had new cases of atrial fibrillation throughout the course of the study's 6.13-year median follow-up.

4. Compared to participants with a cumulative load of 0 points who continued non-to-mild drinking throughout 4 years, those with 4 points exhibited a 25% increased risk of atrial fibrillation.

In conclusion the Authors found the dangers of Atrial Fibrillation and its association to heavy drinking should be made clear to young individuals who have bad drinking habits.

Reference: 

Han, M., Lee, S.-R., Choi, E.-K., Choi, J., Chung, J., Park, S.-H., Lee, H., Ahn, H.-J., Kwon, S., Lee, S.-W., Han, K.-D., Oh, S., & Lip, G. Y. H. (2022). Habitual Alcohol Intake and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation in Young Adults in Korea. In JAMA Network Open (Vol. 5, Issue 9, p. e2229799). American Medical Association (AMA). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.29799