Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common cause of irregular heartbeat, affecting
nearly 2.7 million Americans.
If left untreated, it can significantly increase the risk of stroke and other heart problems.
But what does an AFib diagnosis really mean?
I'm Rachelle Grossman and this is a health feature.
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association,
untreated AFib can double the risk of heart-related death and quadruple the risk of stroke.
AFib is a heart condition that occurs when the top two chambers of the heart receive
irregular electrical signals.
Electrical signals are what trigger the heart muscles to contract.
The timing of this is critical.
Abnormal signaling can cause irregular heartbeat and abnormal blood flow to the rest of the
body.
Dr. Michael Rothkopf, a cardiologist with Baylor, Scott & White Health Systems, has
more...
"So, atrial fibrillation is a very hot topic right now because as the population ages,
more and more people will develop atrial fibrillation.
It's not necessarily a condition that occurs just in older people, but because older people
have had high blood pressure, coronary disease, other problems with their heart, it often
predisposes them to atrial fibrillation - which is actually a problem with the rhythm of the
heart.
So, if you remember from biology, that we had the top chambers, which are called the
atrium and the main pumping chamber, which is called the ventricle.
So here's the top chamber - it goes ahead and fills the bottom chamber, which is the
ventricle, which pumps the blood out of the heart.
And if we remember the "lub-dub" of biology, lub is the atrium contracting, saying "ok
ventricle 'dub' you contract."
When the atrium gets out of rhythm, it sends impulses that are random and the atrium is
actually not squeezing coordinated fashion but actually, what they call "fibrillation".
Fibrillation - you could think of it almost as a bag of worms.
It's just basically irregular - there is no forceful or associated contraction.
So, what's happening is the atrium, instead of going "lub dub", is going like this and
it's sending all these impulses to the ventricle and whenever the ventricle receives an impulse
and it's somewhat of a random fashion, it will contract.
So it makes your heart irregular.
So, instead of a regular beat, a normal beat, if you felt your pulse, you would feel sometimes
the beats are close together, other times they're far apart."
The most common symptoms of AFib are an irregular heartbeat or an irregular pulse.
This may feel like a fluttering in the chest, a racing heartbeat or a slowed heartbeat.
Other symptoms are typically related to the heart not pumping effectively, such as fatigue,
shortness of breath, confusion, dizziness, weakness and sweating.
Now, according to the American Heart Association, AFib can damage the heart muscle over time.
If left untreated, this can lead to heart disease.
And, because blood is no longer flowing smoothly throughout the heart and body, blot clots
or stroke can also occur.
So - what are some possible treatments?
Dr. Rothkopf explains...
"There are many different ways to treat atrial fibrillation and a lot of this depends on
the patient, what the other conditions are.
For example - one of the ways to treat atrial fibrillation is just to control the rate so
the patient doesn't feel it.
Because the main pumping chamber of the heart, the ventricle, is still pumping adequate blood
to the body, the beat is not coordinated.
So, for example, if you were an athlete or somebody who was doing a lot of physical activity,
you would tend to get short-of-breath more easily.
But for most people, during their normally daily activities, atrial fibrillation, even
though the heart beat is out of rhythm, doesn't really affect you."
More specifically - medications are typically prescribed to control the rate or rhythm of
the heart.
This can reduce a patient's symptoms and improve blood flow.
These medications include beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, sodium channel blockers
and potassium channel blockers.
Patients sometimes need to be monitored in a hospital when these treatments are started.
Blood thinning medications are also often prescribed to prevent blood clots, which can
result from poor blood flow and lead to stroke.
The rhythm of the heart can sometimes be reset non-surgically by a minor shock to the chest,
called electrical cardioversion.
Another non-surgical option is cardiac ablation of the area that is causing the unusual electrical
signals.
Pacemakers can be installed surgically to control heart rhythm, while a more complex
procedure — called a maze surgery — creates a network of scar tissue which interrupts
the electrical signals to restore a normal rhythm.
According to Dr. Rothkopf, the best treatment option depends on the individual patient.
So, if you have atrial fibrillation, speak with your cardiologist today to go over which
treatment option may work best for you.