BACKGROUND: Moderate alcohol consumption may reduce cardiovascular events, but little is known about its effect on atrial fibrillation in people at high risk of such events. We examined the association between moderate alcohol consumption and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation among older adults with existing cardiovascular disease or diabetes. METHODS: We analyzed data for 30 433 adults who participated in 2 large antihypertensive drug treatment trials and who had no atrial fibrillation at baseline. The patients were 55 years or older and had a history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes with end-organ damage. We classified levels of alcohol consumption according to median cut-off values for low, moderate and high intake based on guidelines used in various countries, and we defined binge drinking as more than 5 drinks a day. The primary outcome measure was incident atrial fibrillation. RESULTS: A total of 2093 patients had incident atrial fibrillation. The age- and sex-standardized incidence rate per 1000 person-years was 14.5 among those with a low level of alcohol consumption, 17.3 among those with a moderate level and 20.8 among those with a high level. Compared with participants who had a low level of consumption, those with higher levels had an increased risk of incident atrial fibrillation (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-1.26, for moderate consumption; 1.32, 95% CI 0.97-1.80, for high consumption). Results were similar after we excluded binge drinkers. Among those with moderate alcohol consumption, binge drinkers had an increased risk of atrial fibrillation compared with non-binge drinkers (adjusted HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.02-1.62). INTERPRETATION: Moderate to high alcohol intake was associated with an increased incidence of atrial fibrillation among people aged 55 or older with cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Among moderate drinkers, the effect of binge drinking on the risk of atrial fibrillation was similar to that of habitual heavy drinking.
BACKGROUND: Moderate alcohol consumption may reduce cardiovascular events, but little is known about its effect on atrial fibrillation in people at high risk of such events. We examined the association between moderate alcohol consumption and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation among older adults with existing cardiovascular disease or diabetes. METHODS: We analyzed data for 30 433 adults who participated in 2 large antihypertensive drug treatment trials and who had no atrial fibrillation at baseline. The patients were 55 years or older and had a history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes with end-organ damage. We classified levels of alcohol consumption according to median cut-off values for low, moderate and high intake based on guidelines used in various countries, and we defined binge drinking as more than 5 drinks a day. The primary outcome measure was incident atrial fibrillation. RESULTS: A total of 2093 patients had incident atrial fibrillation. The age- and sex-standardized incidence rate per 1000 person-years was 14.5 among those with a low level of alcohol consumption, 17.3 among those with a moderate level and 20.8 among those with a high level. Compared with participants who had a low level of consumption, those with higher levels had an increased risk of incident atrial fibrillation (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-1.26, for moderate consumption; 1.32, 95% CI 0.97-1.80, for high consumption). Results were similar after we excluded binge drinkers. Among those with moderate alcohol consumption, binge drinkers had an increased risk of atrial fibrillation compared with non-binge drinkers (adjusted HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.02-1.62). INTERPRETATION: Moderate to high alcohol intake was associated with an increased incidence of atrial fibrillation among people aged 55 or older with cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Among moderate drinkers, the effect of binge drinking on the risk of atrial fibrillation was similar to that of habitual heavy drinking.
Authors: Rachel R Huxley; Faye L Lopez; Aaron R Folsom; Sunil K Agarwal; Laura R Loehr; Elsayed Z Soliman; Rich Maclehose; Suma Konety; Alvaro Alonso Journal: Circulation Date: 2011-03-28 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: S Yusuf; K Teo; C Anderson; J Pogue; L Dyal; I Copland; H Schumacher; G Dagenais; P Sleight Journal: Lancet Date: 2008-08-29 Impact factor: 79.321
Authors: Bulent Gorenek; Antonio Pelliccia; Emelia J Benjamin; Giuseppe Boriani; Harry J Crijns; Richard I Fogel; Isabelle C Van Gelder; Martin Halle; Gulmira Kudaiberdieva; Deirdre A Lane; Torben Bjerregaard Larsen; Gregory Y H Lip; Maja-Lisa Løchen; Francisco Marin; Josef Niebauer; Prashanthan Sanders; Lale Tokgozoglu; Marc A Vos; David R Van Wagoner; Laurent Fauchier; Irina Savelieva; Andreas Goette; Stefan Agewall; Chern-En Chiang; Márcio Figueiredo; Martin Stiles; Timm Dickfeld; Kristen Patton; Massimo Piepoli; Ugo Corra; Pedro Manuel Marques-Vidal; Pompilio Faggiano; Jean-Paul Schmid; Ana Abreu Journal: Eur J Prev Cardiol Date: 2016-11-04 Impact factor: 7.804
Authors: Bulent Gorenek; Antonio Pelliccia; Emelia J Benjamin; Giuseppe Boriani; Harry J Crijns; Richard I Fogel; Isabelle C Van Gelder; Martin Halle; Gulmira Kudaiberdieva; Deirdre A Lane; Torben Bjerregaard Larsen; Gregory Y H Lip; Maja-Lisa Løchen; Francisco Marín; Josef Niebauer; Prashanthan Sanders; Lale Tokgozoglu; Marc A Vos; David R Van Wagoner; Laurent Fauchier; Irina Savelieva; Andreas Goette; Stefan Agewall; Chern-En Chiang; Márcio Figueiredo; Martin Stiles; Timm Dickfeld; Kristen Patton; Massimo Piepoli; Ugo Corra; Pedro Manuel Marques-Vidal; Pompilio Faggiano; Jean-Paul Schmid; Ana Abreu Journal: Europace Date: 2017-02-01 Impact factor: 5.214
Authors: James F Meschia; Cheryl Bushnell; Bernadette Boden-Albala; Lynne T Braun; Dawn M Bravata; Seemant Chaturvedi; Mark A Creager; Robert H Eckel; Mitchell S V Elkind; Myriam Fornage; Larry B Goldstein; Steven M Greenberg; Susanna E Horvath; Costantino Iadecola; Edward C Jauch; Wesley S Moore; John A Wilson Journal: Stroke Date: 2014-10-28 Impact factor: 7.914
Authors: Katherine M Keyes; Esteban Calvo; Katherine A Ornstein; Caroline Rutherford; Matthew P Fox; Ursula M Staudinger; Linda P Fried Journal: Alcohol Clin Exp Res Date: 2019-07-05 Impact factor: 3.455