A shopper looks at a selection of wine at a large discount supermarket in Seoul on Jan. 5, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The risk of atrial fibrillation, a form of irregular heart rhythm, could grow even for younger adults in their 20s and 30s if they continue heavy drinking, a study indicated Thursday.
A joint research team from the Seoul National University Hospital and Soongsil University conducted an analysis of 1,537,836 adults between 20 and 39 years of age using data from the National Health Insurance Service.
The research team classified the subjects into four groups — no drinking, light drinking, medium drinking and heavy drinking.
After scoring the cumulative amount of alcohol they consumed over four years, the research team traced the occurrence of atrial fibrillation for six years.
Regardless of the type of alcohol, the content of alcohol per cup was defined as 7.5 grams.
The analysis showed that those who continued higher than medium consumption of alcohol for four years had a 25 percent higher atrial fibrillation risk compared to non-drinkers.
In particular, those who continued heavy drinking for four years had a 47 percent higher atrial fibrillation risk compared to non-drinkers.
Once atrial fibrillation is diagnosed and cured, the recurrence rate is high at about 50 percent even for younger adults.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
