Mellanie True Hills, founder of StopAfib.org, spoke at the Fifth Annual Western Atrial Fibrillation Symposium medical conference. Her remarks are summarized in her patient perspective column in the April 2012 issue of EP Lab Digest. See: How Social Media Helps Educate Afib Patients: An Atrial Fibrillation Patient Perspective Published in EP Lab Digest, April, 2012
Vote Yes to Ask the FDA to List Vitamin K on Food Labels
At the American College of Cardiology meeting last week, I discovered a neat project being tackled by Alere, the sponsor of PTINR.com, which is a web site we highly recommend for those taking Coumadin or warfarin. If you take warfarin or Coumadin, you know that you have to keep your vitamin K intake consistent, but [...]
View the Transcript of our March Atrial Fibrillation Chat with Cleveland Clinic Afib Experts
Recently, StopAfib.org partnered with the Cleveland Clinic to give you an opportunity to chat live with three of their atrial fibrillation experts, Dr. Walid Saliba, Dr Mandeep Bhargava, and Dr. David Van Wagoner, who were joined by StopAfib.org founder Mellanie True Hills. The transcript of our afib community chat with these atrial fibrillation experts from [...]
Traditional Heart Disease Risk Factors Account for Half of Black-White Racial Disparity in Stroke
Although the total number of stroke deaths declined by more than 50 percent between 1978 and 2006, racial disparities in stroke deaths have remained and efforts to eliminate health disparities have been unsuccessful. Between ages 45 and 65, blacks are 2 to 3 times more likely to die from stroke than whites, but we haven’t [...]
Atrial Fibrillation Experts from Cleveland Clinic Will Answer Your Afib Questions on March 2
Atrial fibrillation is the most common irregular heart rhythm that starts in the atria. While it is often a mere annoyance, it can also be responsible for life-threatening medical emergencies that result in cardiac arrest, stroke and sudden death. Take advantage of the opportunity to get your atrial fibrillation questions answered by afib experts from [...]
Is It Time to Re-think Typical Atrial Fibrillation Treatment?
The wildly beating heart, fatigue and other debilitating symptoms are well known to the many millions of people impacted by atrial fibrillation. Some of those who have afib may have no outward symptoms, but are still at risk of serious and long-term damage to the heart.
Symptoms or not, rate control is the common treatment of choice, especially from those healthcare providers who are not well versed in afib treatment options. But this treatment sort of suspends afib patients in a “waiting and watching” middle ground, stuck in limbo with a diminished quality of life and an increased risk of stroke.
Update on Atrial Fibrillation Stroke Prevention — Video interview with Dr. Daniel Singer of Harvard
In this interview, Dr. Daniel Singer updates us on the new anticoagulants for atrial fibrillation stroke prevention that he presented about at Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium. He provided an update on rivaroxaban (Xarelto), apixaban (Eliquis), dabigatran (Pradaxa), and edoxaban, and mentioned that all were better than warfarin (Coumadin) in preventing intracranial bleeding (bleeding in the [...]
New HRS/EHRA/ECAS Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Guidelines Presented by Dr. Hugh Calkins of Johns Hopkins — Video
At Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium 2012, Dr. Hugh Calkins, electrophysiologist at Johns Hopkins, presented the new 2012 HRS/EHRA/ECAS Expert Consensus Statement on Catheter and Surgical Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation, which will replace the original guidelines that were published in 2007. Instead of simply rewriting sections that have changed, the writing committee, which was made up [...]
Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium 2012 Recap and Notes – Guest Posts by Dr. John Mandrola
Dr. John Mandrola, a cardiac electrophysiologist in Louisville, Kentucky, who blogs at Dr. John M, live-blogged the 2012 Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium. He has given us permission to reprint his blog posts for the afib community. You will find them here: Recap of Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium 2012 – Guest Posts by Dr. John Mandrola [...]
Mini Maze Procedure May Be a Good Option for Atrial Fibrillation Patients Who Have Failed Catheter Ablation
Results from FAST, the first-ever randomized trial to compare the effectiveness of minimally invasive surgical ablation (also called the mini maze procedure) for atrial fibrillation and catheter ablation for afib, were presented at the recent American Heart Association meeting. The FAST study enrolled patients who had failed a previous catheter ablation procedure. The minimally invasive [...]
