Written By: N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe | Updated : December 18, 2025 3:37 PM IST
Holiday Heart Syndrome: Christmas and New Year are around the corner, most of us may find our social calendar filled with holiday parties but it is crucial to remember what you consume during these celebrations. Healthcare professionals suggest that many people often report symptoms of heart palpitations during Christmas and the New Year due to excessive drinking. This symptom is a medical condition called Holiday Heart Syndrome that occurs when people binge drink, often during weekends and holidays.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) in its findings outlined that the association between cardiac arrhythmias and binge drinking was first introduced by Ettinger Et. Al, who examined 24 patients after getting hospitalised to atrial fabrication after engaging in a weekend binge of alcohol consumption.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, alcohol can harm your heart muscle and affect its normal functioning. Drinking too much alcohol during your Christmas and New Year holidays can make you pee more which removes electrolytes from your body that your heart requires to work well. Other reasons that may cause holiday heart syndrome are eating excessive foods that are salty and taking on unnecessary holiday stress.
The most common symptoms that patients with holiday heart syndrome experience include:
The US held agency claims that symptoms of palpitations can be transient or persistent, depending on the presence or actions of sustaining arrhythmia, as well as the vertical response to atrial fibrillation. The NIH explains, "Patients with rapid ventricular responses may present with symptoms such as fatigue, generalised weakness, angina, shortness of breath, or near syncope."
Anyone can get holiday heart syndrome, but you are likely to get AFib from drinking alcohol if you have certain health conditions or fall under certain categories, such as:
The NIH notes that a person living with holiday heart syndrome is at a higher risk of life-threatening arrhythmias, development of persistent and chronic atrial fibrillation, development of Dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure, embolic stroke and systemic thromboembolism, community-acquired pneumonia and death.
"Managing holiday heart syndrome requires an interprofessional team of healthcare professionals that includes a nurse, laboratory technologist, pharmacist, and a number of physicians in different specialties, including psychiatry and cardiology," the US health agency explains. "Without proper management, the morbidity and mortality from holiday heart syndrome are high."
The NIH further explains that managing holiday heart syndrome does not stop in the emergency department. They recommend that once the patient is stabilized, one has to determine how and why the patient ingested large amounts of alcohol. "Consult with a mental health counsellor if this was intentional and assess risk factors for self-harm. Further, the possibility of addiction and withdrawal symptoms is a consideration. Only by working as an interprofessional team can the morbidity of alcohol ingestion be decreased." NIH concluded.
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