In a new study, researchers found drinking small amounts of alcohol frequently is linked to a higher risk of a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation than binge drinking.
The research was conducted by a team from the Korea University College of Medicine and Korea University Anam Hospital.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder and raises the risk of stroke by five-fold.
Symptoms include palpitations, racing or irregular pulse, shortness of breath, tiredness, chest pain and dizziness.
A previous study found a link between alcohol and atrial fibrillation: risk increased by 8% for every 12 g of alcohol (one drink) consumed per week.
But it was not clear which is more important: the total amount of alcohol or the number of drinking sessions.
In the study, the team examined the relative importance of frequent drinking versus binge drinking for new-onset atrial fibrillation.
The analysis included 9,776,956 individuals without atrial fibrillation who underwent a national health check-up in 2009 which included a questionnaire about alcohol consumption.
Participants were followed-up until 2017 for the occurrence of atrial fibrillation.
The number of drinking sessions per week was the strongest risk factor for new-onset atrial fibrillation.
Compared with drinking twice per week (reference group), drinking every day was the riskiest, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.412, while drinking once a week was the least risky (HR 0.933).
Binge drinking did not show any clear link with new-onset atrial fibrillation.
The current recommendations about alcohol consumption have focused on reducing the absolute amount rather than the frequency.
This study suggests that drinking less often may also be important to protect against atrial fibrillation.
The team says the protective effect of mild drinking needs to be confirmed. It is not clear if this is a true benefit or a confounding effect of unmeasured variables.
The lead author of the study is Dr. Jong-Il Choi, of Korea University College of Medicine and Korea University Anam Hospital.
The study is published in EP Europace, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
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