Atrial Fibrillation

Types of Atrial Fibrillation:

There are several episodes of atrial fibrillation, which are divided into the following types:

• Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: This episode often begins suddenly, lasts for minutes to hours, and may recur over time. This type of AFib can be managed with medications or other treatments, such as ablation, and cured without any treatment.
• In Persistent atrial fibrillation: This episode can last for a week but it is also curable. Persistent atrial fibrillation can be treated with the help of medication and ablation Sometimes doctor uses both the drug and ablation.
• Permanent atrial fibrillation: This type of atrial fibrillation affects the patient's heart rate almost all the time. The treatment of this type includes controlling the symptoms of atrial fibrillation so that the chances or threat of a stroke can be minimized.
• Long-standing atrial fibrillation: This is the episode that affects the patients over a year.

Atrial Fibrillation heart rate:

Atrial fibrillation is a heart disease that speeds up the heart rate. The high-speed heart rate leads to several heart problems, threatening the people affected by this disease. The average heartbeat or pulse rate is 60 and 100 beats in a minute, but people with atrial fibrillation have 140 beats in one minute.

Atrial Fibrillation causes

There are many reasons or causes of atrial fibrillation, which are its prime cause or source, and you need to prevent them to stay safe from this disease. Some of the underlying causes of this abnormality include:

• Ischemic heart disease
• High blood pressure or hypertension
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• An overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) and certain medications.

 Other contributing factors may include

• Sleep deprivation
• Stress, infection, or inflammation in the heart muscle (myocarditis)
• Heart defects and abnormalities of the pulmonary veins.
• In addition, certain types of cardiovascular disease, such as valvular heart disease and congestive heart failure, can increase the risk of AF.
• Some cases may also be due to genetic causes and abnormalities in the heart's electrical pathways.

Atrial Fibrillation symptoms 

There are some of the prominent symptoms of atrial fibrillation which come and go after some time which are:

• Palpitations
• Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating

Some of the patients with this disease may not experience any of the above symptoms yet have atrial fibrillation.

Atrial Fibrillation treatment

The treatment of Atrial Fibrillation (AF) involves an important and crucial approach that assesses and addresses the current AF episode, as well as any underlying conditions or risk factors. The primary goals of treatment are to reduce symptoms which can lead to many other health issues, and also help to reduce long-term risks associated with AF, such as stroke and other heart complications problems. The treatment of the atrial fibrillation targets;

• To normalize the heart rate.
• Control the heart rate through medication
• Decrease the chances of blood clotting.

There are many ways to treat AF, which includes medications, cardioversion therapy, and catheter procedure.

1. Medication: The treatment of AF with medication involves the following groups of medicines:

• Beta-blockers; This medication will help to balance the heart rate if you are doing any activity, which has a high chance that your heart rate may increase faster.
• Calcium channel blockers; it is also used to treat AF, but they are not suitable for those people who have a heart problem or low blood pressure.
• Digoxin: This group of medicines is best for the treatment of the heart rate when it is at rest but is unable to balance the heart rate when you are doing any activity. Your doctor may suggest you take this medicine along with calcium channel blockers or beta blockers.
• Anti-arrhythmic medications; Medicines are used to control the heart rhythm but cannot handle or balance the heart rate.
• Blood thinners: these medicines are used to prevent blood clotting and help in blood thinning medications.

2. Cardioversion therapy: The second treatment of atrial fibrillation includes electrical cardioversion, which reset the heart rhythms through electric shocks, which helps in the regular heart rate.

3. Catheter procedure: If the medication or cardioversion therapy doesn’t help in the cure of the AF, then you may undergo the procedure of cardiac ablation. Following are the steps of the ablation catheter:

• This procedure involves the use of extreme heat, which is known as radiofrequency or very cold cry oblation, which helps in the creation of the scares that control the electrical signals which are the main causes of the abnormal heartbeat.
• The doctor will insert a catheter (a flexible tube) through your blood vessels into your heart which treats the abnormal heart rhythms.

Atrial Fibrillation life expectancy

Atrial fibrillation is not a life-threatening disease itself. But the symptoms of this disease can also cause some other serious health problems like blood clotting, stroke or heart attack, and heart failure. But if you treat the disease with proper medication or other treatment methods and change your lifestyle, then it can decrease the life threat.

Is Atrial Fibrillation dangerous?

It is dangerous when it leads to other dangerous problems or health issues like heart attack and heart failure, which is a serious life-threatening issue. The symptoms of AF may go and come over some time but are not dangerous. When it causes blood clotting or other heart problems, it may lead to death.