No similar effect seen for light or moderate alcohol consumption<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, Dec. 8, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of adverse events in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), according to a study published online Nov. 23 in EP Europace<\/em>.<\/p>\n Chewan Lim, from the Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues assessed the relationship between alcohol consumption and AF among 9,411 patients with nonvalvular AF.<\/p>\n The researchers found that the heavy alcohol consumption group (\u00e2\u0089\u00a5200 grams\/week) had an increased risk of composite adverse outcomes (ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, systemic embolic event, or AF hospitalization; adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.32 [95 percent confidence interval (CI), 1.06 to 1.66] versus the abstainer-rare group). There was no significant increased risk noted for adverse outcomes in the light (<100 g\/week; aHR, 0.88; 95 percent CI, 0.68 to 1.13) and moderate (100 to 200 g\/week; aHR, 0.91; 95 percent CI, 0.63 to 1.33) groups. Among patients with low CHA2<\/sub>DS2<\/sub>-VASc score, without hypertension, and in whom \u00ce\u00b2-blockers were not prescribed, the adverse effect of heavy alcohol consumption was significant.<\/p>\n “Clinicians should ask patients about their alcohol consumption and take it into account when calculating their stroke risk,” a coauthor said in a statement.<\/p>\n Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n