We often hear atrial fibrillation patients say that they wish their doctors could experience afib just once so they might better understand what we afib patients go through. Dr. John Mandrola, a Louisville-based electrophysiologist and a bike racer, just shared his story of experiencing atrial fibrillation and how it made him a more empathic doctor.
Read: Atrial Fibrillation Strikes an Electrophysiologist
StopAfib.org salutes our friends at the Arrhythmia Alliance and the Atrial Fibrillation Association, including Founder Trudie Lobban and Executive Committee President Professor John Camm, for their Know Your Pulse campaign to raise awareness of atrial fibrillation in order to encourage diagnosis and treatment of it.
The Know Your Pulse campaign encourages easy and inexpensive pulse checks as a way to identify potential atrial fibrillation. The campaign aims to ensure that pulse checks become routine and is encouraging supporters to sign a government e-petition. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has just joined into this initiative.
Sleep apnea is an important risk factor for atrial fibrillation. It is also associated with hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, diabetes, and insulin resistance, all of which are risk factors for, or results of, atrial fibrillation.
Now a new study has just reported that men between the ages of 40 and 70 who have severe sleep apnea have twice the risk of death as men without sleep apnea. Though women are probably also at increased risk, the study did not have enough women with sleep apnea to draw conclusions regarding an association between sleep apnea and death.
Sleep apnea is believed to impact about one in four men and one in ten women, and most are not aware that they have the problem. The article below contains very important information for both men and women with afib.
Read: Severe Sleep Apnea Doubles Risk of Death in Men — Implications for Those with Atrial Fibrillation
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds a potential warning sign for three heart rhythm issues—the risk of atrial fibrillation, the need for a pacemaker, and the risk of death.
When EKGs show a prolonged PR interval, that is traditionally considered relatively benign, but that may not be the case. Increases in the length of the PR interval may actually be a warning about the patient’s atrial fibrillation risk, need for a pacemaker, or even death.
Learn more: EKG Warns of Potential Atrial Fibrillation Risk
A new study just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that increasing severity of sleep apnea is associated with a progressively increasing risk of atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias.
The type of sleep apnea matters:
It’s possible that treating sleep apnea could improve the arrhythmia, but there’s currently no proof of that. The study was done on men, but likely applies to women, too.
To learn more, read: Sleep Apnea Severity Increases the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation and Ventricular Arrhythmias
A new study has shed light on gender bias in diagnosing heart disease, which may apply to diagnosis of atrial fibrillation in women as well.
Read: Why Atrial Fibrillation May Be Missed More in Women
After reading the article, please come back here to the Atrial Fibrillation Blog to add your comments and experiences.
Many of you know that I’m concerned about the relationship between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation and also about how atrial fibrillation can overwork the heart and lead to heart failure.
Thus, a newly launched study about sleep apnea and heart failure may hopefully provide information useful for those with atrial fibrillation.
What are the implications today for those with afib and should you be tested for sleep apnea?
Read more at Why Afib Patients Must Know Whether They Have Sleep Apnea
Then please come back here to post your comments, thoughts, and experiences.
Since the shocking death of political commentator Tim Russert a few days ago, we have seen a huge outpouring of love and respect for this man who was so admired. I admired him, too, but this post is not about what his life taught us, but about what his death taught us.
Many of us with atrial fibrillation also have heart disease. Even those with lone atrial fibrillation may be at risk for heart disease. Thus this story hits close to home for many of us even though it’s not about atrial fibrillation.
We were shocked that Tim Russert was taken from us at age 58. Why, and how could that happen to one so young? Why couldn’t he have been saved?
While heart attack symptoms for men are usually overt, and for women subtle, there are some men for whom the symptoms are subtle as well. So for many of us, a heart attack is the first recognizable symptom. He may have had subtle symptoms that could have saved him had they been recognized and acted on in time—that’s how I had a different outcome—but maybe not as it’s not always possible.
We’ve since heard from Tim’s doctor that an autopsy showed that he had coronary artery disease and an enlarged heart, which is often a by-product of the heart having to work too hard. A cholesterol plaque ruptured an artery, caused a clot, and led to his death.
His coronary artery disease was being treated with medication and exercise, but medication doesn’t generally reverse significant heart disease and you have to question whether he was able to find time to exercise with his intense job.
He had just had a good stress test, too. Of course, passing a stress test is no guarantee of good heart health—it’s a reasonable screening test, but it’s only accurate at indicating heart disease in about 2/3 of men and only 1/3 of women.
Interestingly, Tim had just come back from a trip to Italy with his family to celebrate son Luke’s college graduation. Some doctor blogs have suggested this as a possible source of a clot. This hit home for me because my very first episode of atrial fibrillation was just a few days after my own long flight back from Italy. I had artery clots (not vein clots from “economy class syndrome”) and a close call with stroke. Tim’s trip to Italy could have played a role.
To me it seems that Tim’s intensity and relentlessly high standards drove him to literally work himself to death, the same as what almost happened to me. His colleague, Tom Brokaw, said, “He worked to the point of exhaustion so many weeks.” That sure sounds familiar.
It didn’t help that his role in “Meet the Press” was to confront. And the media business is stressful—always on deadline and always trying to scoop the other media. The stress on Tim’s face told us that he was a heart attack waiting to happen.
Is Tim Russert the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the media? There are so many heart attacks just waiting to happen there. In one particularly heated Fox News debate about immigration, Bill O’Reilly was so angry that the veins on his face popped out—I thought he would have a heart attack or stroke right there. His sparring partner, Geraldo Rivera, appeared equally angry and at risk. Come on, guys, take it easy! It’s not worth a heart attack!
The media isn’t the only occupation at risk—there are many other high-stress occupations as well.
What about you? Will this be a reality check for you? If you need to, will you make changes that will save your own life?
Heart attacks can be prevented. Eating right, exercising, managing the insidious stress that hijacks healthy habits, getting enough sleep, and taking proactive control of your health—the HEART Program’s five simple steps—saved my life and could have saved Tim’s, too.
If you need help, there are many books out there (including my own). Just do something to save your own life.
It was so easy to like and admire Tim, and he really made us think. He was always influencing and teaching us. May he influence and teach us in death just as he did in life.
Welcome to the Atrial Fibrillation Blog, sponsored by StopAfib.org.
This blog is for talking about living with atrial fibrillation (afib) and ways to deal with it. If your heart has ever felt like a flopping fish, a bag of wiggly worms, or fluttering butterflies, you may have atrial fibrillation, the most common irregular heartbeat. You can find out more about how to tell at StopAfib.org.
If you or a loved one suffers from atrial fibrillation, please join us on a journey of exploration to help us wipe out afib.
