Prior studies have suggested that moderate to high alcohol consumption on a regular basis may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat, in men but not in women.

However, a new study published in the December 3, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that healthy middle-aged women who consume 2 or more alcoholic drinks per day have a slightly increased risk of atrial fibrillation .

Researchers from Switzerland studied 34,715 healthy women over the age of 45 who did not have atrial fibrillation at the time of enrollment in the study. They followed these women for an average of over 12 years, and during this time, 653 of these women developed atrial fibrillation. They found that, although consumption of up to 2 alcoholic beverages a day was not associated with an increased risk of irregular heartbeat, heavier consumption of 2 or more drinks was linked to a small but significantly increased risk of atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke, and the risk of atrial fibrillation increases with age. The findings of this study suggest that heavy drinking may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation in relatively young, otherwise healthy women, but further studies would be needed to determine any long-term consequences.

Source

JAMA. 2008;300(21):2489-2496.