Why drinking just ONE glass of wine a day could now be bad for you
- Alcohol enlarges the heart’s left upper chamber – known as the atrium
- This leads to atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes irregular heartbeats
- One unit a day was linked to a five per cent higher chance of having it
- Every additional unit drunk was linked to a 0.16mm larger left atrium
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
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Just one glass of wine a day may increase the risk of developing an irregular heartbeat, scientists warn.
As a result, long-term consumption can make drinkers more likely to suffer from a stroke or blood clots.
This is because alcohol enlarges the heart’s left upper chamber – known as the atrium, experts say.
Known as atrial fibrillation, the condition sees the heart beat irregularly and fail to properly pump blood around the body.
Alcohol enlarges the heart’s left upper chamber – known as the atrium and cause atrial fibrillation, researchers from the University of California say
The findings from researchers at the University of California go against the common belief that moderate drinking can be good for the heart.
Study author Dr Gregory Marcus said: ‘Our study provides the first human evidence of why daily, long-term alcohol consumption may lead to the development of this very common heart rhythm disturbance.
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‘We were somewhat surprised that a relatively small amount of alcohol was associated with a larger left atrium and subsequent atrial fibrillation.’
Researchers analysed figures from 5,220 adults from an ongoing project.
The participants, who had an average age of 56, underwent electrocardiograms to measure activity of the heart.
Of 17,659 scans taken over six years, researchers detected 1,088 cases of atrial fibrillation.
The condition sees the heart beat irregularly and fail to properly pump blood around the body – but experts claim it could be prevented by avoiding alcohol
They found drinking just 10g of alcohol – the equivalent to one unit – had a five per cent higher chance of developing the condition.
Every additional unit was linked to a 0.16mm larger left atrium.
Researchers said the link remained even after high blood pressure, diabetes, or smoking were taken into account.
Dr Gregory added that the condition ‘might be prevented by avoiding alcohol’ but the rule can’t be applied to everyone.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disturbance, affecting around one million people in the UK.
It can affect adults of any age, but it becomes more common as you get older, according to the NHS.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
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