Research Highlights:<\/p>\n
\n\tA new, global analysis finds atrial fibrillation\/flutter and breast cancer rates may follow similar risk factors and patterns across regions, particularly among women ages 55 and older.
\n\tIn about 40% of the 204 countries and regions evaluated, the rates of both breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter were similar in older women, with the highest-risk zones in Western nations.
\n\tResearchers identified modifiable risk factors, particularly alcohol use and smoking, which could substantially reduce the impact of both conditions.
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Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT\/5 a.m. ET Wed., July 8, 2026<\/p>\n
DALLAS, July 8, 2026 \u2014 Alcohol use and smoking were linked to breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter in women ages 55 years and older in multiple regions of the world, according to new, independent research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association<\/a>, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.<\/p>\n The number of breast cancer and atrial fibrillation<\/a>, also called AFib or irregular heartbeat, cases represent a growing global health burden, according to study authors. Why these conditions have similar rates in specific parts of the world is not well understood.<\/p>\n \u201cIdentifying shared risk factors is important for developing interventions that support optimal health, such as smoking cessation and alcohol restriction, which could potentially reduce the global incidence of breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter substantially,\u201d said study co-author Shu Wang, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Breast Disease Center at Peking University People\u2019s Hospital in Beijing.<\/p>\n In this analysis, researchers investigated the rates of breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter in women ages 55 and older in 204 countries and regions worldwide. They evaluated women\u2019s exposure to 58 shared and distinct health, behavioral and lifestyle risk factors, including smoking, alcohol use, body mass index and physical activity.<\/p>\n What are the results of the analysis? <\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most surprising aspects of our findings was how common both breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter diagnoses were among women ages 55 and older in high-income regions, which highlights the influence of lifestyle,\u201d Wang said. \u201cThis is the first study combining global data with machine learning to show the relationship between the conditions, their location across the world and the shared risk factors of these two conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n The study results revealed high-risk zones were mostly in Western countries where there was greater exposure to smoking and alcohol use compared to Eastern regions, which can be attributed to differences in lifestyle, as well as social and community differences. Additionally, Western nations were more likely to have exposure to more types of risk factors, such as higher body mass index and more sedentary lifestyles, due to industrialization and transitions to more Western diets.<\/p>\n “Nowadays, more and more people are paying attention to the link between cancer and cardiovascular health,” said study co-authors Zeye Liu, M.D., Ph.D., a surgeon in the department of cardiac surgery of Peking University People\u2019s Hospital, and Yi Shi, M.D., Ph.D., the director of the department of cardiac surgery at Peking University People\u2019s Hospital in Beijing. “Breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter rise together across many regions of the world and share the same modifiable risk factors. From a cardiovascular perspective, this means that reducing smoking and alcohol use could help lower the risk of both conditions at the same time.”<\/p>\n \u201cMany of the same modifiable factors,\u00ad\u00ad including smoking, alcohol use, poor diet, physical inactivity and obesity, \u00ad\u00adcontribute to both breast cancer and cardiovascular disease including atrial fibrillation\/flutter, as confirmed by this study\u2019s findings,\u201d said Laxmi Mehta, M.D., FAHA, chair of the American Heart Association\u2019s Council on Clinical Cardiology. \u201cThis overlap underscores the importance of integrated lifestyle strategies to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The American Heart Association\u2019s Life\u2019s Essential 8<\/a> highlights key behaviors and health factors essential for prevention and reducing risk.\u201d Mehta, who was not involved in the study, is also the director of preventative cardiology & women’s cardiovascular health, the Sarah Ross Soter Endowed Chair in Women\u2019s Cardiovascular Health Research and professor of internal medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio.<\/p>\n The American Heart Association has previously identified that breast cancer and cardiovascular disease share some common risk factors that may be prevented through modifications like a healthy diet, physical activity, abstinence from tobacco and low alcohol intake, according to a 2018 Scientific Statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n The newly developed spatial risk maps as part of this study can help guide region-specific prevention strategies and provide precise targets for future research. According to the researchers, the next step will be to incorporate long-term research, genetic and metabolic data into the analysis. Additionally, expanding the study to include socioeconomic factors will help develop individualized and region-specific prevention strategies.<\/p>\n What are the details, background, design and limitations of the study?<\/p>\n
Co-authors, disclosures and funding sources are listed in the manuscript.<\/p>\n Studies published in the American Heart Association\u2019s scientific journals are peer-reviewed. The statements and conclusions in each manuscript are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association\u2019s policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives more than 85% of its revenue from sources other than corporations. These sources include contributions from individuals, foundations and estates, as well as investment earnings and revenue from the sale of our educational materials. Corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations to the Association. The Association has strict policies to prevent any donations from influencing its science content and policy positions. Overall financial information is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Additional Resources:<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n About the American Heart Association <\/p>\n The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities, the organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public\u2019s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day. Connect with us on heart.org<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.<\/p>\n For Media Inquiries and AHA\/ASA Expert Perspective: 214-706-1173<\/p>\n Karen Astle: Karen.Astle@heart.org<\/a><\/p>\n For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)<\/p>\n heart.org<\/a> and stroke.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Research Highlights:
A new, global analysis finds atrial fibrillation\/flutter and breast cancer rates may follow similar risk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[75652,4760,228966,103,61,60,228967,164267,228965,228962,228964,228963],"class_list":["post-538981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-afib","tag-american-heart-association","tag-breast-cancer-and-atrial-fibrillation","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irregular-heartbeat-and-breast-cancer","tag-journal-of-the-american-heart-association","tag-laxmi-mehta","tag-shu-wang","tag-yi-shi","tag-zeye-liu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\tResearchers noted 80 countries or territories of 202 (39%) had similar rates of both breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter. About 65 countries (32%) were noted to be breast cancer-dominant, and 57 countries (28%) were atrial fibrillation\/flutter-dominant.
\n\tAfter accounting for multiple variables, smoking and alcohol use were linked to higher rates of both breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter.
\n\tAn additional analysis found that reducing alcohol intake and smoking could potentially reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 15% and the risk of atrial fibrillation\/flutter by about 12% worldwide.
\n\tAlcohol use was found to be a significant contributor to breast cancer (9.27% of cases) and atrial fibrillation\/flutter (7.57% of cases).
\n\tHigh-income and developed nations, such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and much of Europe, exhibited elevated rates of both breast cancer and AFib, aligning with previous research linking Western diets and sedentary lifestyles to increased risks of cardiovascular and metabolic conditions and cancer.
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\n\tResearchers evaluated data from the Global Burden of Disease 2021 database to understand the incidence of breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter, identifying the shared and distinct risk factors of both conditions.
\n\tThe analysis focused on women 55 years of age and older in 204 countries and territories worldwide.
\n\tThis is the first study to utilize machine learning to investigate the patterns across the globe, the relationship to breast cancer and atrial fibrillation\/flutter co-occurring and the underlying region-specific risk drivers. Researchers created worldwide maps for healthcare professionals and policymakers to address prevention strategies customized to each region.
\n\tThe analysis examined exposure to 58 risk factors that were both shared between conditions and distinct, that spanned environmental, lifestyle and metabolic factors, with 2 key risk factors primarily contributing to both conditions.
\n\tStudy limitations include that it reviewed a large global database with broad healthcare information by country, which lacks data at the individual level, and the findings cannot prove any direct cause and effect. In addition, the country-level data may be limited based on the country\u2019s resources to collect information, potential differences in screening and possibly inconsistent parameters for the conditions.
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