Binge drinking increases the risk of irregular heart rhythms

A team of experts at Ohio State University found that binge drinking-related arrhythmias are connected to a raised risk of the stress-induced protein JNK2. This causes cells to mishandle calcium and results in the heart beating irregularly or too quickly.

The most common type of irregular heart rhythm, Atrial fibrillation (AFib), has even been branded "holiday heart syndrome" by doctors as it is caused by lengthy boozing sessions during the summer.

Dr Saugat Khanal, a scholar at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, said: "Around the holidays, opportunities for celebration - often accompanied by heavy drinking – occur during a brief period of time.

"Unfortunately, this sometimes sends revellers, even those with no previous heart condition, to the hospital with a racing or abnormally beating heart.

"The link between repeated binge drinking and arrhythmia at times of celebration is so well-known that medical professionals call it holiday heart syndrome, which is caused by repeated binge drinking over the holidays."

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