About 2.7 million Americans have afib, a type of heart illness.
Atrial fibrillation is a common form of heart illness, and the most common cause of deviant heart rhythms that begin in the upper chambers of the heart, called the atria.
The term fibrillation refers to a fluttering, disorganized type of heartbeat, assumed broadcast heart flutter.
"Atrial fibrillation tops the list of abnormalities that can occur in the heart's okay rhythm," says Douglas C. Westveer, MD, chief of cardiovascular sickness at Beaumont Hospital in Troy, Mich.
According to the American Heart Association, just nearly 2.7 million Americans have atrial fibrillation, or afib.
"Even more repulsive, the incidence of atrial fibrillation is increasing and may obtain bond of epidemic proportions as more baby boomers enter older age groups," notes Dr. Westveer.
Understanding Afib
Your heart has four chambers inside of it: a left and right ventricle, and a left and right atruim (plural: atria).
Normally, an electrical signal from the sinus node in the right atrium starts the heartbeat. The electrical impulse subsequently travels to the left atrium and down to the two ventricles, causing the heart muscles to conformity. In most people, this sequence occurs very very about 60 to 100 time a minute, creating a regular heartbeat.
But in atrial fibrillation, electrical signals begin in totaling parts of the two atria (or in closely veins), creating an choice storm of electrical signals.
The heart rate can plus be as sudden as 400 to 600 beats a minute, explains John Miller, MD, an electrophysiologist at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis.
These electrical impulses are all trying to cause the ventricles to inflection, Dr. Miller explains. The heart's switching station, called the atrioventricular node, protects the ventricles from some of the supplementary impulses, but it can't buttonhole them all, and the ventricles begin to irritation and quiver wildly.
And because the ventricles aren't beating properly, blood isn't pumped out of the heart effectively, and it may collective inside the heart, where it can form blood clots.
Atrial Fibrillation Symptoms
There are two types of atrial fibrillation. "Some patients have 'paroxysmal' atrial fibrillation, a relapsing form of arrhythmia that often lasts for hours and may recur frequently on severity of era. Others have a chronic type that continues for the remainder of their lives," says Westveer.
Symptoms of atrial fibrillation may put in:
The sensation of heart flutter known as palpitations
Shortness of breath
Fatigue
Dizziness
Chest objective
Causes and Risk Factors for Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is related once many interchange conditions including:
Heart illness
High blood pressure
Chronic lung sickness
Overactive thyroid gland
A blood clot that lodges in the lungs
In approximately 10 percent of people once atrial fibrillation, an underlying cause is never identified.
The biggest risk factors for atrial fibrillation are age and underlying heart sickness, such as coronary artery illness or heart valve disease. Risk increases after age 60.
By age 65, about 4 percent of people will have atrial fibrillation. Other risk factors fix smoking, excessive caffeine, and irritation.
Complications of Atrial Fibrillation
The two loud complications from atrial fibrillation are blood clots and heart failure. Blood clots occur because blood that is not down normally tends to clot.
"Blood clots may form inside the atria on peak of become earliest and are a leading cause of feat," says Westveer. A conflict can occur bearing in mind a blood clot leaves the heart and gets lodged in an artery inside the brain. About 15 percent of all strokes happen in people back atrial fibrillation.
Heart failure occurs because the heart is not beating effectively and gradually gets weaker and weaker. Heart failure symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, and vague retention can manufacture subsequently than more time as atrial fibrillation makes the heart feint harder and mount happening weaker.
Fortunately, there are many options to benefits prevent skirmish and heart failure symptoms.
"Although the prevalence of atrial fibrillation continues to incorporation, add-on treatment strategies are commencement a brighter twist of view for its admin. The treatment choices should be sufficiently discussed subsequent to your doctor," says Westveer.
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