The doctor told me my heart was beating arrhythmia, too fast one minute and too slow the next. Although unlikely to be dangerous in the short term, about half of patients with atrial flutter may develop full-blown atrial fibrillation. In the long run, it could lead to stroke or heart attack.
“Make no mistake about it, atrial fibrillation has serious consequences,” says John, an electrophysiologist and associate professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and author of more than 175 peer-reviewed scientific papers on cardiac arrhythmias. says Mohit K. Tulagam. “But it's very preventable and very treatable. No one should have to suffer from it every day. Patients who receive treatment do very well.”
AFib is an irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia. The upper chambers of the heart, called the atria, beat chaotically and out of sync with the lower chambers, the ventricles. If blood is pumped too little or too slowly, the electrical pulses that normally circulate through the heart can be interrupted.
cleveland clinic Website This phenomenon has been likened, albeit poetically, to an orchestra led by two conductors, with the musicians conflicting about which one to follow and which harmonies and rhythms to play.
Rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, dizziness or lightheadedness, chest pain, and fatigue are all typical symptoms of atrial fibrillation. Symptoms may occur for minutes or hours, may occur intermittently or continuously, and may last for weeks, months, or longer. However, an estimated 10 to 40 percent of patients with atrial fibrillation have no symptoms.
Connection in cold regions
2015 Meta-analysis of 15 studiesThe study, which involved more than 125,000 patients and was published in the Journal of Atrial Fibrillation, found that: Paroxysmal — or intermittent — AFib It occurs most often in winter, least in summer, and lowest in July.
Stroke risk for AFib patients is as follows: 19% more expensive in winter A study of some 290,000 patients presented at the European Society of Cardiology found that it was 10 percent higher in the summer than in the spring. Overall, the condition sharply increases the likelihood of suffering a stroke, heart failure, and even dementia. If AFib is left untreated, the chance of stroke increases five times. American Heart Association (AHA) reportthe odds of dying from heart failure double.
However, not all researchers agree. In a 2022 study, American Heart Association Journalreported that hospitalizations for atrial fibrillation vary little by season.
Other studies suggest that atrial flutter tends to be diagnosed at a younger age than in the past. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is studying whether wearable devices, such as smartwatches, may help detect, diagnose, and better manage atrial fibrillation than current approaches.
Approximately 1 in 3 people over the age of 55 experience the following symptoms: lifetime risk Regarding the onset of AFib, A person who grows old without doing anything Only one in five people are at the same risk if they have a single chronic disease or comorbidity, and the condition is most prevalent among people aged 65 and older. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that atrial fibrillation causes more than 450,000 hospitalizations each year. 12.1 million people Atrial fibrillation will occur in the United States in 2030. Although atrial fibrillation alone is rarely fatal, it is a contributing factor to many deaths in people with other health conditions.
The main risk factors for AFib are uncontrolled high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, sleep apnea, overweight and obesity, family history of the disease, and alcohol consumption (the more you drink, the higher your risk) , and the problem will be serious enough in late December. called “”holiday heart syndrome”).
To avoid atrial fibrillation and other heart problems, the AHA recommends eating a heart-healthy diet, getting 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week, limiting alcohol consumption, and not smoking.
Jonathan Piccini, professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center and Duke Clinical Research Institute and author of more than 550 peer-reviewed studies, says, “Eating right, exercising regularly, and losing weight can all help reduce risk and symptoms. It’s incredibly powerful.” Papers on atrial fibrillation.
Treatments range from medications that control heart rate and rhythm, such as beta-blockers to slow the heart rate and blood thinners to prevent strokes, to minimally invasive procedures that block erroneous heart signals and shocks to the heart. A wide range of treatments are available to help restore normal rhythms.
For example, cardioversion uses a mild shock to electrically reset the heart's rhythm. Another option, catheter ablation, involves inserting a tube into the groin that travels through blood vessels to the upper chambers of the heart, delivering energy to kill cells and returning electrical signals to a normal rhythm.
Another treatment, called pulsed-field ablation, is already approved in Europe as an alternative to traditional ablation and is awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval, potentially in 2024. Research published in Circulation — Turagam is the lead author — demonstrated that this new technology is clinically effective in 78% of patients with atrial fibrillation.
No need to wait for investigation
“GPs' wait-and-see approach to atrial fibrillation can be harmful,” warns Melanie True Hills, an atrial fibrillation patient who founded a non-profit patient advocacy group. StopAfib.org, a popular information resource among patients. “Patients should seek help early and see a specialist.”
Important note: Even if AFib appears to be under control, it can return sooner or later.
“Atrial fibrillation can recur, and patients can develop an atrial fibrillation episode years after their last episode,” says Richard A., director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service and professor of medicine at Stanford University, and author of three books. said Paul Wang, editor of the AHA Journal. “And atrial fibrillation may have no symptoms or only have symptoms for a short period of time.”
“The big problem is that as the symptoms associated with atrial fibrillation increase and the elderly population grows, atrial fibrillation becomes more prevalent,” said Dr. says Eve Rosenberg, who is overseeing the clinical trial. NHLBI. “So our public health message about atrial fibrillation is all about prevention. The better we can prevent these risk factors, the more likely we are to prevent atrial fibrillation.”
To be honest, it took me about a year to see a doctor, and I should have gone after the first incident. But now I know that waiting was a mistake.
In April 2021, at just 69 years old, I underwent catheter ablation. I was in and out of the hospital for about 30 hours. The surgeon then showed me my latest EKG. This is a graph with spikes and dips that shows my heart is beating more smoothly.
My heart hardened. I'm glad I went.
Over two years later, I have resumed my old life and have had enough of a second wind to keep up with my five-year-old granddaughter's non-stop dynamo. I have never lacked for action, but now my heart is in the right place again.
