Study Says Alcohol May Trigger Dangerous Palpitations

A study of a clinical group with an average age of 59 builds a stronger link between alcohol consumption and serious heart palpitations in patients with atrial fibrillation, the most common form of arrhythmia. A study in 1978 first discovered such patients experiencing a common and potentially dangerous palpitation after excessive drinking.

The term “holiday heart syndrome” was coined after the 1978 study because excessive drinking is common during the winter holiday season. The symptoms usually went away when the revelers stopped drinking.

Now research from University of California, San Francisco builds on that finding, establishing a stronger causal link between alcohol consumption and serious palpitations in patients with atrial fibrillation, the most common form of arrhythmia. The researchers report that people with atrial fibrillation had almost a 4.5 times greater chance of having an episode if they were consuming alcohol than if they were not.

“One of the remaining big unknowns is why or how this happens,” said senior author Dr. Gregory Marcus, an assistant professor of medicine at the UCSF division of cardiology. “In a previous publication, we suggested that there was an effect on the electrical activity of the atrium that leads to these arrhythmias, but we do need additional studies to prove that.”

For more about the research, go to http://ctsi.ucsf.edu/news/about-ctsi/link-between-alcohol-and-atrial-fibrillation