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High beer consumption often drink at the Oktoberfest a trigger for cardiac arrhythmia
High alcohol consumption is known to have many adverse health effects. Now scientists from the University of Munich and the German Center for Cardiovascular Research e.V. (DZHK) have been able to demonstrate by means of a study at the Oktoberfest in Munich that an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias is one of these effects.
Visitors to the Munich Oktoberfest were able to "show that higher levels of alcohol increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmia," according to a report from the University of Munich Hospital. The team around Dr. med. Stefan Brunner and dr. med. Moritz Sinner has in his study for the first time the relationship between acute alcohol consumption and cardiac arrhythmia prospectively - that is. during or immediately after alcohol consumption - in a large number of subjects studied. Their results published the researchers in the journal "European Heart Journal".
At the Oktoberfest, doctors examined the effects of alcohol consumption on the heart rhythm. They found that the risk of cardiac arrhythmia increases with the amount of alcohol consumed. (Image: mhp / fotolia.com) Atrial fibrillation due to high alcohol consumption?
For some time, doctors already suspect that caused by alcohol cardiac arrhythmias may possibly lead to atrial fibrillation. This suspected connection between the consumption of large amounts of alcohol over a short period of time and the occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias in otherwise actually healthy patients has so far only been proven in small studies and not prospectively, the scientists report. The effect is referred to as the "Holiday Heart Syndrome".
More than 3,000 volunteers examined at the Oktoberfest
For the current study, the research team has Brunner and dr. Sinner examined 3,028 volunteers in 2015 on all 16 days of festivities at the Munich Oktoberfest. Of course, not all volunteers had consumed the same amount of alcohol and so the alcohol level, according to the scientists from 0 to 3.0 per thousand (0-3.0 g / kg). The fact that no even higher alcohol levels were present in the subjects, is due to the fact that 3.0 per thousand according to the study protocol, the maximum permitted amount of alcohol for participation in the study were. The study participants were around 35 years old on average and 30 percent were women.
Almost a third of subjects with cardiac arrhythmias
Using a wearable, smartphone-based system, the researchers were able to create electrocardiograms (ECGs) of subjects to analyze their heart rhythm. Because alcohol levels were determined by the scientists with a breath alcohol meter. "In their study, the researchers found cardiac arrhythmias in 30.5 percent of participants. In 25.9 percent of cases there was a so-called sinus tachycardia, in which the heart beats faster than normal, "reports the University of Munich. Normally, according to the experts, the frequency of cardiac arrhythmias in the general population is around one to four percent.
The amount of alcohol increases the risk
"The breath alcohol concentration was significantly associated with an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia," the researchers report. Every additional gram of alcohol per kilogram increases the risk of cardiac arrhythmia by 75 percent. The excessive beer consumption at the Oktoberfest thus has a very adverse effect on the heart function. In addition to the data collected at the Oktoberfest, the researchers also analyzed the influence of habitual, chronic alcohol consumption in 4,131 participants from the so-called KORA S4 study (Cooperative Health Research in the Augsburg area) reported the University of Munich. "For this study, we quantified the mean amount of alcohol consumed in grams per day," explains Drs. Sinner.
Effect on acute alcohol consumption particularly strong
According to the researchers, in the KORA study, only 2.7 percent of participants had cardiac arrhythmias, with 0.4 percent having sinus tachycardia. However, there was a small, significant association between the daily amount of alcohol and sinus tachycardia, the experts report. The probability for this increased by three percent per additional gram of alcohol per day, the Munich scientists continue. "We confirmed the correlation between sinus tachycardia and chronic alcohol use in the KORA study," emphasizes Dr. med. Sinner. Although the effect was significantly weaker compared to the influence of acute alcohol consumption, the main findings of the investigations at the Oktoberfest could be confirmed, Sinner said.
Connection with atrial fibrillation confirmed only indirectly
While the link between acute alcohol use and the increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia has been clearly demonstrated in the current study, the researchers have not been able to show that AF is a direct result of acute alcohol consumption. The so-called "Holiday Heart Syndrome" could therefore not be clearly confirmed in the investigation. However, the researchers said they found "a very strong and robust association between alcohol and cardiac arrhythmias that may be considered a precursor to atrial fibrillation."
Particularly severe effects on respiratory sinus arrhythmia
The University of Munich Hospital further reports that the study showed above all a connection between alcohol consumption and changes in the respiratory-dependent fluctuations in the heart rate, the so-called respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reflects an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system of the heart. The unconscious control system, which controls bodily functions such as the heartbeat or respiration, seems to be unbalanced by alcohol consumption. In addition, it is known that "atrial fibrillation can occur when patients develop sinus tachycardia triggered by an autonomous imbalance" Sinner.
Follow-up examinations required
Although the study did not prove the "Holiday Heart Syndrome" prospectively, the results will help clinicians and scientists better categorize changes in the cycle of acute alcohol use, the Munich researchers report. In follow-up examinations, for example, it now has to be clarified whether atrial fibrillation and other long-lasting cardiac arrhythmias occur after acute alcohol consumption. Brunner.
Constant cardiac arrhythmia to be feared?
The researchers assume that the detected cardiac arrhythmias at the Oktoberfest were often limited in time and disappear with the reduction of the alcohol level. But surely this is not, since only a single control by means of ECG took place, emphasize the experts. For example, in subjects with pre-existing heart disease, alcohol-induced cardiac arrhythmia may also persist, explain the researchers. "In order to be able to finally answer these questions, we will need further research results with longer recording of the ECG after alcohol consumption," the study authors concluded. (Fp)