Alcohol consumption

Excessive drinking also harms young, healthy people

It has long been known that excessive alcohol consumption can damage the heart. Now a new Munich study shows that excessive drinking can also lead to cardiac arrhythmia in young, healthy people.

The research team analyzed the data of more than 200 young men and women who regularly go out and drink alcohol. During the study, they had peak blood alcohol levels of up to 2.5 per mille. "Clinically relevant arrhythmias occurred in over five percent of the otherwise healthy participants, mainly during the recovery phase," said Moritz Sinner from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich.

The participants' heart rhythms were monitored by ECG for 48 hours. The researchers differentiated between the baseline value before drinking, the drinking phase and the recovery phase. There were also two control phases. During the drinking phase, the pulse rate became faster and faster at more than 100 beats per minute.

Study at the Munich Oktoberfest
Alcohol can interfere with the processes of the heart, said the research team. Further research is needed to determine the long-term harmful effects on heart health. The team had already launched a corresponding study at the Munich Oktoberfest in 2015, but only examined a snapshot in the ECG.

Other research has also shown negative effects on the heart. For example, even small amounts of alcohol consumed regularly can trigger atrial fibrillation, even in healthy people without pre-existing conditions.