February 7, 2012

Can Avoiding Dehydration Prevent Atrial Fibrillation “Holiday Heart Syndrome”?

Avoid dehydration

Featured at Grand Rounds: Health Tips at USATODAY.com The holidays seem to bring on lots of atrial fibrillation, often attributed to a condition called “Holiday Heart Syndrome”, which is supposedly caused by consuming too much alcohol and caffeine during the holidays. This year, can we avoid afib caused by Holiday Heart Syndrome? I think so, [...]

For happy holidays, some things to do before you go

Because the holidays are full of potential atrial fibrillation triggers—food, hot and cold beverages, alcohol, stress, cold weather, and many more triggers—here’s wishing you the willpower to resist your triggers. And if you can’t resist, here’s wishing that your body holds the afib beast at bay. Here are a couple of recent articles that may [...]

MSNBC.com Story Shares Our E-mail Disaster

Whether or not you have atrial fibrillation, stress isn’t good for you. We’ve all had e-mail disasters, and they are stressful. I had one earlier this year. A writer for MSNBC.com recently had her own e-mail disaster, but as I shared my experience, she realized that there is life after e-mail disaster. She wrote up my experience at MSNBC.com [...]

The Role of Coffee in Atrial Fibrillation

Is there anyone with atrial fibrillation who hasn’t been told that coffee and caffeine can cause or trigger atrial fibrillation? The first step to controlling atrial fibrillation, we’re often told, is to eliminate coffee. Because of this, coffee and caffeine are frequent topics on afib discussion forums. But there’s interesting information about coffee at the [...]

Does Stress Cause Atrial Fibrillation?

Atrial fibrillation is so sneaky. So is afib really stress in disguise? Afib seems to sneak up on you when you least expect it and you wonder “where did that come from?” It’s hard to pin down an atrial fibrillation cause or trigger when it’s different every time. For some, it’s triggered by alcohol or [...]