Emma Jonson 
Drinking alcohol in small quantities is often being associated with an increased likelihood of atrial fibrillation. It is the most seen reason behind heart rhythm disorder, even more than binge drinking, according to a study.
Researchers have observed that atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke by five-fold. The symptoms consist of shortness of breath, tiredness, chest pain palpitations, racing or irregular pulse, and dizziness.
When pitted with drinking a couple of times per week (reference group), consuming alcohol every day was the riskiest, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.412, while consuming alcohol once a week was the least risky (HR 0.933), the researchers revealed.
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Binge drinking failed to show any relation with new-onset atrial fibrillation, they said.”Our analysis tells that drinking often is more dangerous than infrequent binge drinking as far as atrial fibrillation is concerned.
The number of drinking sessions was being compared to atrial fibrillation onset irrespective of age and sex,” said Choi.
“Repeated incidents of atrial fibrillation caused by alcohol may result in overt disease. And additionally, drinking can induce sleep disturbance which is a common risk factor for atrial fibrillation,” Choi said.
The latest study researched with data from almost 10 million people and concluded that it was the whole number or frequency of drinking sessions that gave rise to the chance of being found with Afib (new-onset Afib).
Persons who consumed alcohol daily had the highest risk of developing Afib among all study participants, while those who consumed just one a week showed the least risk.
For the study, the investigators took a sample of 9,776,956 persons who did not have any atrial fibrillation who took part in a general health check-up in 2009.
It included a questionnaire about their drinking habits. Participants were checked upon until 2017 to look if they had felt episodes or were taken to the hospital for atrial fibrillation.