How Alcohol Can Affect Your Heart Rate


A Particularly striking study published in 2017 We looked at how alcohol can affect your heart rate in social situations. The work took place at the Munich Oktoberfest, the world’s largest public beer festival. Researchers recruited more than 3,000 men and women who had been drinking but were not legally hindered. They tested the alcohol concentrations in their blood and gave them an EKG to assess their heart function. They found that about 26 percent of the revellers had a resting heart rate of over 100 beats per minute, a risky but not life-threatening condition known as sinus tachycardia. About 5 to 6 percent of participants showed other irregular heartbeats considered more dangerous, including atrial fibrillation, which can lead to serious complications such as stroke. The higher the participants’ breath alcohol concentrations, the more likely they were to have one of these irregular heart rhythms.

Cardiologist at Munich University Hospital and author of the study, Dr. Stefan Brunner said that his findings generally show that heart rate constantly increases as blood alcohol levels increase, but not everyone shows the same level of sensitivity. “Some people respond more deeply to increased heart rate than others,” he said, but it’s not clear why. Some people may have a higher tolerance for alcohol, he said.

Dr. Brunner stressed that for most healthy adults, the increase in heart rate in response to alcohol shouldn’t be a concern, especially if you drink in moderation, which is no more than one drink per day for women and up to one drink per day for men in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Dr. “An increase in heart rate from 60 to 80 to 100 beats per minute is not alarming and simply reflects the effect of alcohol,” Brunner said. The smartwatch alerts you to an abnormal heart rhythm, such as atrial fibrillation.

You should also be cautious if you have strong risk factors for developing a heart rhythm disorder, such as high blood pressure or coronary artery disease, or if you have had arrhythmias in the past. one last try Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine He found that just one can of beer or a single glass of wine can cause an episode of atrial fibrillation in people with a history of this condition.

A cardiologist and heart rhythm disorders specialist, Dr. Peter Kistler said that people with arrhythmias may drink alcohol, but should only do so occasionally and limit themselves to just one standard drink, no more than three or four times a week. However, avoiding alcohol altogether can make a big difference. Dr. Kistler’s research has shown that that quitting alcohol reduces event rates by half in people with recurrent arrhythmias who are regular drinkers.



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