AFib from binge drinking can be prevented with experimental treatment

Take heart – scientists say they may have found a way to prevent irregular heart rhythms caused by too much drinking, a phenomenon so common at Christmas that it’s called “holiday heart syndrome”.

They will present their research this week at an American Heart Association conference in Chicago.

“Around the holidays, opportunities for celebration—often accompanied by heavy drinking—occur over a short period of time,” explained lead study author Saugat Khanal, a postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State University.

“Unfortunately, this sometimes sends entertainers, even those with no previous heart disease, to the hospital with a beating or abnormal heart,” he added.

Atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib, is the most common type of arrhythmia, which is the scientific name for a heartbeat that is too slow, too fast, or otherwise irregular. The condition can increase the risk of stroke and heart failure.

AFib affects more than 5 million adults in the US – about one-third of new diagnoses are related to alcohol use.

Repeated heavy drinking – which is defined as five drinks within two hours for men and four drinks within two hours for women – can lead to high blood pressure, liver disease, increased risk of cancer and serious arrhythmias.

Now, Khanal’s team says it has identified a heart-protective molecule that can prevent the activation of a stress-induced protein in the heart that has been shown to lead to AFib.

In their experiments, the researchers tried to simulate the human holiday heart syndrome in mice. They found that the treatment they created with the molecule Alda-1 reduced the increase in stress proteins associated with heavy drinking and the resulting irregular heartbeat.

“Studies using larger animals will be a future direction to translate our exciting findings into clinical applications,” Khanal said.

Khanal’s findings still need to be peer-reviewed before they can be published in a scientific journal.

A separate study also presented this week warns premenopausal and menopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy against drinking alcohol because it can worsen heart function.