A-fib or atrial fibrillation is a type of heart arrhythmia that causes irregular heartbeat and interrupts the normal flow of blood. This interruption increases the risk of blood clots and stroke, leading to death in the worst case scenario.
The two upper chambers of the heart are affected in this disorder and it disrupts blood flow to the ventricles or the lower chambers, and then to the rest of the body.
This is a very common disorder, and if left untreated, it can prove to be fatal. A-fib affects somewhere around 3 million adults in the United States. New York Times reports that this number is expected to quadruple in the coming decade as the population ages and risk factors like obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure become even more common.
In a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine, cardiologists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the United States indicated that untreated A-fib can raise the risk of stroke by fourfold in men and about sixfold in women.
However, proper diagnosis and treatment can turn out to be lifesaving.
How to detect A-fib?
Those affected with this disorder may feel their heart race, pound or flutter periodically for minutes at a time. They may also notice occasional episodes of shortness of breath, dizziness or undue fatigue upon exertion. Excessive consumption of alcohol and caffeine may worsen the condition.
Is there any new treatment?
New York Times reported about a new procedure called pulsed field ablation which is still in the clinical trial. In this method, the errant cells around the atria are destroyed by making holes in them with electrical shocks. It is being tested in a controlled clinical trial involving at least 350 patients at more than 30 American medical centres.