I recently wrote Olympic Athlete Nicola Coles Fights Atrial Fibrillation about the New Zealand rower who experienced atrial fibrillation during her final training for Beijing.
You may have wondered if Nicola’s afib impacted her during the Olympics. You’ll find the answer in the updated story:
Nicola Coles and Other Olympic Athletes Fight Atrial Fibrillation
Just scan about halfway down the page to find the update.
I love the Olympics, and find myself staying up half the night watching them. Yes, I know it’s bad, but it’s only for a short while. I found myself transfixed the other night by the women’s gymnastics competition. They were so incredibly graceful, and yet so powerful, too.
Not being athletic myself, I find this level of athleticism amazing. But being athletic can be a problem, too, when it leads to atrial fibrillation.
The latest story on StopAfib.org is about Nicola Coles, an Olympic athlete competing in Beijing, who stopped by the Atrial Fibrillation Blog recently while struggling with her afib…here’s the story:
Nicola Coles and Other Olympic Athletes Fight Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is different for women. It just is.
If you’re a woman living with afib, you know. You may want to read The Patient’s Perspective: Women Living with Atrial Fibrillation, a free magazine from the Embrace Your Heart(TM) Wellness Initiative done in partnership with StopAfib.org.
The purpose of this magazine is to raise awareness of atrial fibrillation in women and to help improve the quality of life for women with afib. Here are some of the stories you may want to check out:
* Are You Just a Hysterical Female? The emotional toll of atrial fibrillation.
* To Broccoli or Not To Broccoli…Managing Your INR
* Stressed or Stroke?
* Go Buy A New Bra! …and other things a woman should do before heart surgery
You can download the magazine, or listen to the replay of the teleseminar .
Since I posted a few days ago on Statins Help Women with Atrial Fibrillation, Hans Larsen, owner of the Lone Atrial Fibrillation Bulletin Board, created a great recap of studies related to inflammation and atrial fibrillation, including lone atrial fibrillation (afib without any underlying heart disease). It’s definitely worth checking out to find out more about inflammation.
Some findings he included were really fascinating, such as that being out of normal sinus rhythm can cause inflammation, rather than the other way around. Also, inflammation may not be as important in true lone atrial fibrillation.
Importantly, most studies on afib and inflammation have been on populations that were mostly men. That’s why the statin study is so unique - it’s an afib study in WOMEN, FINALLY! We know that afib is slightly different in women and it’s nice to finally have some afib studies that tell us what happens for women.
So, if statins’ anti-inflammatory properties were beneficial for women (in this case, post-menopausal women with existing heart disease) by decreasing their atrial fibrillation risk, then natural anti-inflammatories should also be beneficial for many, if not most, women in decreasing their afib risk. We know that anti-inflammatories are beneficial to men, but it’s good to finally know that this applies to women as well.
Speaking of afib research on women, one study just presented at the Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting showed that women are way under-represented among those referred for catheter ablation. I know that to be the case for surgery as well.
So that means that if you’re a woman with afib, you just may have to be more proactive and assertive to find out all your options to get the atrial fibrillation treatment you deserve.
Post-menopausal women with existing heart disease have less risk of having or developing atrial fibrillation if they are taking statin drugs. This finding was reported at the Heart Rhythm Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco. It appears that it’s the anti-inflammatory properties of statins that cause this. More about study…
While the news stories say “older women benefit from taking statins” (the study focused just on post-menopausal women), it’s logical that it could apply to younger women as well (maybe men, too). Since inflammation causes heart disease and post-surgical atrial fibrillation, why shouldn’t something that reduces inflammation help reduce the risk of afib at any age? It seems logical.
I tell my audiences that heart disease is forever—once you have it you’re at risk for more heart disease, stroke, and other issues. I believe that inflammation from all those chronic sinus infections (and a case of bronchitis) contributed to my heart disease at age 51 and may also have contributed to developing afib later that same year.
So if you’re a woman with Lone Atrial Fibrillation (atrial fibrillation without underlying heart disease), these results wouldn’t seem to apply to you. Or do they? I believe that many who have lone afib may also have undiagnosed heart disease. It’s heresy, I know, to say that. But since almost half of us will have (and die from) heart disease or stroke, is it logical to think that we just up and develop it one day? I don’t think so. Heart disease builds up over time, starting in our childhood.
So how could heart disease go undiagnosed in a woman? We’ve learned through the WISE (Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation) study that women’s heart disease is different from men’s and that tests that diagnose heart disease in men often aren’t as accurate for women. For example, treadmill stress tests accurately pick up heart disease in men about 2/3 of the time, but it’s only about 1/3 of the time in women. The same applies to other tests that work well for men. Women may need different tests to find their heart disease, so just because a test came back clean doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t have any heart disease.
So what can you do if you don’t want to take statin drugs? Lots of folks don’t. Would a naturally-occurring statin (such as red yeast rice) or a natural anti-inflammatory agent work? Logic says that they might, though I haven’t seen any randomized studies confirming that. (This isn’t medical advice - just my ramblings - so you’ll have to make your own decisions.)
Bottom line for women: Finding ways to reduce inflammation could help control afib or reduce your risk of having it.
Does that work for men, too? Perhaps so.
For some ideas on naturally-occurring statins and natural anti-inflammatories check out these resources:
My friend, Dr. Ellen Taliaferro, used to be an emergency room doctor. Today she uses her expertise in dealing with trauma to help people use writing to recover from their illnesses and traumas.
I sent her a message the other day saying that maybe wellness writing can not only cure chronic diseases but perhaps even prevent them in the first place. That came from research I’d just read about from Arizona State University that writing can lower cholesterol and give you a healthier heart. Dr. Taliaferro just wrote about writing as a heart-healthy prevention strategy in her blog.
So if writing can relieve stress and give you a healthier heart, can it help with atrial fibrillation, especially afib triggered by stress? Could be worth a try.
Dr. Taliaferro is doing some workshops on Seeking Wellness Story by Story in beautiful Half Moon Bay, CA in April. If you attend, please let us know if it helps your afib.
