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Drinking champagne, eating more fruit, staying slim and maintaining a positive outlook on life could help reduce the risk of a sudden cardiac arrest, the world’s first study of its kind suggests.
Millions of people worldwide die every year after experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), when the heart stops pumping blood around the body without warning. They are caused by a dangerous abnormal heart rhythm, when the electrical system in the heart is not working properly. Without immediate treatment such as CPR, those affected will die.
The study identified 56 non-clinical risk factors associated with SCA, spanning lifestyle, physical measures, psychosocial factors, socioeconomic status and the local environment. It found compelling evidence that addressing these things could prevent a large number of cases.
Researchers found that factors such as higher consumption of champagne and white wine, increased fruit intake, along with maintaining a positive mood, weight management, blood pressure control and improved education, may serve as important protective factors. They concluded that between 40% and 63% of sudden cardiac arrest cases could be avoidable when looking at all 56 risk factors. Their findings were published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.
The study’s co-investigator Renjie Chen of Fudan University in Shanghai said: “To our knowledge, this is the first study that comprehensively investigated the associations between non-clinical modifiable risk factors and SCA incidence. We were surprised by the large proportion (40%-63%) of SCA cases that could be prevented by improving unfavourable profiles.”
Researchers studied more than 500,000 people using data from the UK Biobank. Of those tracked, 3,147 people suffered SCAs during a typical follow-up period of 14 years.
The study’s lead investigator, Huihuan Luo, also from Fudan University, said: “All previous studies investigating the risk factors of SCA were hypothesis-driven and focused on a limited number of candidate exposure factors grounded in prior knowledge or theoretical frameworks.
“We conducted an exposome-wide association study, which examines the relationship between a wide range of environmental exposures and health outcomes using UK Biobank data, followed by Mendelian randomisation to assess causal relationships.
“The study found significant associations between various modifiable factors and SCA, with lifestyle changes being the most impactful in preventing cases.”
Eliminating the worst third of the 56 risk factors suggested 40% of SCA cases could be prevented, according to the study. This increased to 63% SCA prevention if the worst two-thirds of the risk factors were eliminated.
In a linked editorial, Nicholas Grubic from the University of Toronto in Canada, and Dakota Gustafson from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, said: “One of the study’s most intriguing findings is the cardioprotective effect associated with champagne and white wine consumption, questioning long-held assumptions about the specificity of red wine’s cardioprotective properties.
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“Research on the underlying mechanisms remains unclear, but these findings reinforce the idea that the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption may be more complex than previously assumed.”
The suggestion that champagne and white wine may be helpful also conflict with existing advice.
The British Heart Foundation says lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of SCAs. These include cutting down on alcohol, quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, taking medications and following treatments from your doctor, as well as being physically active.
To reduce the “immense burden” SCAs put on health systems, population-wide strategies that prioritise prevention are required, Grubic and Gustafson wrote. But while shifting from responding to SCAs to preventing them may seem straightforward, doing so would be far more complex in practice, they said.
They said: “The multifactorial nature of these events – often influenced by a combination of genetic predispositions, underlying cardiovascular conditions, environmental triggers, and lifestyle factors – poses significant challenges for healthcare professionals and policymakers.”
