IN MY VIEW... DRINKING LESS IS IMPORTANT FOR OLDER HEARTS

IT HAS been reported that more of us are drinking less, and that may be particularly good news for your heart if you’re over 60.

I am reaching the age when atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm abnormality, becomes increasingly likely. About 1 per cent of the general population has this abnormality, but over the age of 60 it’s closer to 10 per cent.

It is a major risk factor for stroke because when the heart beats irregularly, blood clots can form in the upper chambers, the atria, which can then be pumped out and up into the brain.

During my career there have been two major advances in the treatment of atrial fibrillation: anticoagulation, using medication to make the blood less likely to clot, has been proven to reduce stroke risk, and is now far easier with new drugs such as Pradaxa; and ablation, in which the abnormal rhythm can be stopped by destroying the sections of heart tissue that are triggering the abnormal rhythm.

But what can we do ourselves? It appears that alcohol intake is an important risk factor.

The journal Heart Rhythm reports that drinking eight to 21 units per week is associated with electrical structural changes in the heart, while two to seven units per week is not.

This adds to the numerous studies that have identified excessive alcohol consumption as a significant factor in the recurrence of atrial fibrillation even after an ablation procedure.

Today it is 55 to 64-year-olds who are most likely to require hospital admission for alcoholrelated injury or disease. This is our warning.