13 things to know about Atrial Fibrillation

Here are 13 things I tell AF patients. I am sorry that you have AF. Welcome to the club, there are many members. (Three million Americans and counting.) I know how it feels. Your fatigue, shortness of breath and uneasiness in the chest are most likely related to your AF. AF may pass without treatment. Really. Important new work suggests AF is modifiable with lifestyle measures. As in you can help yourself. AF isn’t immediately life-threatening, though it feels so. Worrying about AF is like worrying about getting gray hair and wrinkles. Plus, excessive worry makes AF more likely to occur. Emergency rooms treat all AF in the same way. One hammer — often a big one. There is no “cure” for AF. (See #5) The treatment of AF can be worse than the disease. The worst (and most non-reversible) thing that can happen with AF is a stroke. For AF patients with more than one of these conditions: Age> 75, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart failure, or previous stroke, the only means of lowering stroke risk is to take an anticoagulant drug. Sorry about the skin bruises; a stroke is worse. Know you CHADS-VASc score. The treasure of AF ablation includes eliminating AF episodes without taking medicines. But AF ablation is not like squishing a blockage or doing a stress test. It will be hard on you. It works 60-80% of the time, has to be repeated one-third of the time and has a list of very serious complications. If your AF heart rate is not excessive, it’s unli...
Source: Dr John M - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: blogs