Atrial Fibrillation

Question: Atrial Fibrillation? A friend of mine recently became very sick, and was told she had Atrial Fibrillation, she is only 30 years old. She went through a stress test and an echo and now has to wear a heart monitor for 30 days. What can the Atrial Fibrillation be caused from and do patients with Atrial Fibrillation usually have it for the rest of their lives?

Answer: Almost always, once afib, then always prone to afib and it may be a chronic on-going condition. The good news is that most people with afib do fine regardless. They may never be participating in Iron Man competitions, but are fine for day-to-day needs. The difficulty in converting atrial fibrillation back to sinus rhythm is not dependent on age, rather is dependent on the source of the afib. If the left atria is dilated and large, it predictably will not go back to NSR and stay there very easily. Mentioning specific medications is not too useful here (there are at least four separate classes and a number of choices among them) because each patient is individual and often requires a unique treatment - and there are new agents being introduced. Most recently, conventional wisdom has been to convert to NSR (normal sinus rhythm) if there is a reasonable chance of conversion and staying in NSR. If NSR was unlikely, then rate control (and chronic anticoagulation with Coumadin depending on patient age) has a the same likelihood of death as NSR and that then becomes the goal. In other words, a controlled rate is almost as good. A recently published article showed however that QUALITY of life is significantly reduced if a patient remains in afib. Its early but this may mean there is more effort to convert to NSR in the future, possibly with more use of surgical intervention/pacemakers...time will tell. The fact that your friend has a 30 day monitor means to me that the doctors are evaluating her current treatment to see if it is effective in keeping the heart rate either regular or at a regulated rate. One common source of afib in young people is sleep apnea. If there is ANY possibility that sleep apnea may be at play(people who are overweight for instance) in this case, then your friend should go for a sleep study to have it evaluated. Its entirely treatable and can make a big difference in her long term cardiovascular, lung function, and day-to-day well being. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Question: Does or did you dog have atrial fibrillation? My boxer has recently been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and has already had to be revived with CPR once. The heart skips every five beats. Has your dog had trouble with atrial fibrillation? If so do you have any advice?

Answer: Heres some info: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content… My dog had congestive heart failure, while that is different than your dog, I know salt is bad for the heart. It causes palpitations, so I think it would hurt your dog. I think magnesium may help, cause that is helpful with palpitations. Check with your vet first. He can tell you the right dose or whether to do it or not. Of course, if he is on meds, definitely speak with the vet first about the mag.

Question: Atrial Fibrillation: what type of pain occurs before and during heart attack or stroke? I am asking opinions from patients of Atrial Fibrillation what type of pain they experienced prior to and during a heart attack or stroke due to AF. If you have COPD and/or overweight, please relate to both if they created more problems.

Answer: http://www.a-fib.com/PersonalExperiences…

Question: what is atrial fibrillation and is it serious? I recently had an ecg done due to having chest pain and shortness of breath along with palpatations and the ecg showed atrial fibrillation. i have to go for further testing and my GP has put me on a daily dose of aspirin to prevent a stroke or heart attack. I also have dextrocardia. i am only 24 and i'm very worried about this. Can anyone help?

Answer: AF is a failure of the normal controlling node (SA node) located in the posterior wall of the right atrium. Atrial fibrillation is by far the most commonly occurring cardiac arrhythmia. The rate heart control by the node is lost and the rate can rise dramatically. It is unfortunately not a benign condition however there are a number of ways of dealing with it. You may remember Tony Blair had surgical management while he was Prime minister. This consists of destroying the aberrant conduction pathway, allowing the SA to take over control once more. Patients can also be cardioverted, given a DC shock just as in when a defibrillator is used following a cardiac arrest. Digoxin was used for many many years to control Af it fell out of fashion, but is still used by many cardiologists. Another approach is to again ignore the abnormal rhythm and just control the rate, this is done using beta blockers. The rapid irregular rhythm allows some blood to stagnate,increasing clot risk and stroke, for this reason patients are given at least anti-platelet therapy and more recently anti-coagulated with warfarin.

Question: is there a link between flying and atrial fibrillation? I suffer from paroxsymal atrial fibrillation. I haven't flown since I have been diagnosed but now I am worried about it. I do not like flying and when I get in the plane my heart beats very rapidly from fear. Could this trigger a fibrillation? If so I will have to go abroad via train or boat. Has anyone had a fibrillation whilst flying?

Answer: Atrial fibrillation is more on cardiac electrical impulses than atmospheric pressure-induced, so high altitudes do not have that high of a correlation with the said disease. This disease is also called cardiac DYSRHYTHMIA, and I call it as such instead of ARRHYTHMIA because "A-" means "none", and atrial fibrillation definitely has a cardiac rhythm but only abnormal. If the nature of your cardiovascular disease is altitude induced, such as Bends, then flying might be a problem. The complication of your disease, however, is more related and more likely to be triggered by anxiety-filled situations, which, in your case as you said, is flying or any other situations or events that trigger an anxiety attack. Anxiety attacks translate to high adrenaline production, sweating, and fast heartbeats as some of the symptoms. The increased heart rate could switch your cardiovascular physiology to the atrial fibrillation state, i.e. your abnormal cardiac rhythm--this is the exact nature of patients diagnosed with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, with alternate switching between normal cardiac rhythm to an abnormal one. If flying triggers an anxiety attack towards you, then there is a high chance that it would also trigger atrial fibrillation in your state. Remember that flying per se is not the problem but the event itself that give rise to a precursor of atrial fibrillation. If this is the case, you have some options to remedy this. I recommend you see a cardiologist and discuss your case and possible anxiolytic (meds directed toward anxiety attacks) medications, like Diazepam for example, that you can take if flying is absolutely necessary. If I am not mistaken, AF is manageable is most cases. And since yours is paroxysmal in nature, there is something that can be done to manage it. I hope this helps!

Question: Is lifting weights a high risk with atrial fibrillation? I'm a 43 year-old male who enjoys and has for several years lifting weights as a hobby and looking good. Just recently i was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Do i have to stop lifting weights now that i'm being treated for this condition?

Answer: Talk to your cardiologist. I assume you are on digoxin? As long as you don't stress your heart too much it should stay in rhythm. But stress means different things to different hearts. I could lift weights without having a problem as long as my dig level is up. If it's down too low, I could go into AF just by bending over to pick something up. It just depends on what your heart can take and if you maintain a sinus rhythm on meds. Everyone is different and everyone's heart has a different stress point.

Question: If the patient I'm caring for has Rapid Atrial Fibrillation and Dyspnea, why is she being prescribed heparin? The patient I looked after today has rapid atrial fibrillation and dyspnea meaning she has a fast irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, jaundice and really rapid breathing. When listening to her lungs, you can hear crackling and squeeking. Why is heparin being prescribed?

Answer: Heparin is a blood thinner and is used to prevent clots. Because your patient has rapid AF, the heart is beating so irregular that sometimes the blood pools in certain chambers of the heart and heparin prevents that clots from forming in those areas. I would assume your patient is also on Digoxin which will slow the heart beat.

Question: Is irregular heartbeat the same as atrial fibrillation? My doctor says no and that AF is a serious diagnosis.? He also says extra heartbeats, which I've been diagnosed with, do not amount to atrial fibrillation. Plse help.

Answer: I think your doctor wasn't clear enough with you. Atrial Fibrillation is classified within the irregular heart beat problems, but AF usually develops only in very severe heart problems. What I assume you have, since the doctor told you you have only "an irregular hear beat" is that what you have is a heart arrhythmia that can be caused by anxiety. AF is a serious disease, but your doctor told you you don't have that, what he didn't tell you is the name of the irregular heart beat you have. Ask him: is my irregular heart beat an arrhithmia of the heart or is it heart palpitations with PVC's causing the problem?

Question: what is the connection between working out and atrial fibrillation & lactic acid. how can it be helped? It seems for me that, the artial fibrillation episode occurs during the early morning after having done some exercise the day before. The irregular heart beat lasts about 5 hours and then it goes back to normal. Is this related to lactic acid in the blood stream? Are there homeopathic, or natural ways to deal with this and thus prevent the episode of irregular heart beat; or is there treatment to take during the atrial fib? Or can some kind of exercise help while it is occuring which will help the heart go back to its normal pace? Why is it that the episode seems to last about 5 hours each time it happens? Thank you

Answer: PLEASE tell me you are on some kind of anticoagulant! If you truly have afib, and your episodes last for 5 hours a day...My gosh I am worried about you throwing a clot!! It could be a electrolyte imbalance secondary to working out and sweating off some of your important electrolytes, especially potassium. It just may not present itself until later. Anyway, you should talk to your cardiologist about this. Good luck.

Question: Is Atrial fibrillation always cause for concern? If Atrial fibrillation is detected then is it always a cause for concern?

Answer: yes- cause for concern. can be managed with medication pretty easily. untreated aFib can lead to serious health problems.