Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group
Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.
An article in Yahoo says,
"Sudden, unexplained episodes of rapid, irregular heartbeat and pulse can predate a heart attack by weeks or months. Skipped beats or arrhythmias that aren't accompanied by an increase in heart rate are less serious, though they still need medical attention. However, an irregular heartbeat accompanied by an increase in the number of beats per minute -- what's known as supraventricular and ventricular tachycardia -- can indicate a serious problem.
Scary stat: Ventricular tachycardia, particularly after exercise, is closely associated with sudden death, so it's important to get help fast.
Top clues: The symptoms are easy to confuse with a panic attack. Your heart may feel like it's pounding, as if you'd just run for the bus or had a terrible fright. And the episodes are likely to come on suddenly. Typically, there's no obvious trigger for the sudden heartbeat acceleration and arrhythmia, but there is a type of ventricular tachycardia that's triggered by vigorous exercise in someone with heart disease. When these episodes last longer than a minute or two, dizziness and weakness may follow.".
(My comment is: ) Aren't they talking about afib??? And yes, ventricular afib is VERY dangerous.. but isn't that different than what's classically known as a "heart attack? (or blockage? or technically... "myocardian infarction?")
I really think they should have discussed atrial afib... ventricular afib is pretty rare, and they're going to get people REALLY frightened. Or am I missing something here?
"Sudden, unexplained episodes of rapid, irregular heartbeat and pulse can predate a heart attack by weeks or months. Skipped beats or arrhythmias that aren't accompanied by an increase in heart rate are less serious, though they still need medical attention. However, an irregular heartbeat accompanied by an increase in the number of beats per minute -- what's known as supraventricular and ventricular tachycardia -- can indicate a serious problem.
Scary stat: Ventricular tachycardia, particularly after exercise, is closely associated with sudden death, so it's important to get help fast.
Top clues: The symptoms are easy to confuse with a panic attack. Your heart may feel like it's pounding, as if you'd just run for the bus or had a terrible fright. And the episodes are likely to come on suddenly. Typically, there's no obvious trigger for the sudden heartbeat acceleration and arrhythmia, but there is a type of ventricular tachycardia that's triggered by vigorous exercise in someone with heart disease. When these episodes last longer than a minute or two, dizziness and weakness may follow.".
(My comment is: ) Aren't they talking about afib??? And yes, ventricular afib is VERY dangerous.. but isn't that different than what's classically known as a "heart attack? (or blockage? or technically... "myocardian infarction?")
I really think they should have discussed atrial afib... ventricular afib is pretty rare, and they're going to get people REALLY frightened. Or am I missing something here?
Arrhythmias are generally divided into two categories: ventricular and supraventricular. Ventricular arrhythmias occur in the lower chambers of the heart, called the ventricles. Supraventricular arrhythmias occur in the area above the ventricles, usually in the upper chambers of the heart, called the atria. The irregular beats can either be too slow (bradycardia) or too fast (tachycardia).
Ventricular Fibrillation
The most serious arrhythmia is ventricular fibrillation, which is an uncontrolled, irregular beat. Instead of one misplaced beat from the ventricles, you may have several impulses that begin at the same time from different locationsall telling the heart to beat. The result is a much faster, chaotic heartbeat that sometimes reaches 300 beats a minute. This chaotic heartbeat means very little blood is pumped from the heart to the brain and body and can result in fainting. Medical attention is needed right away. If cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be started, or if electrical energy is used to "shock" the heart back to a normal rhythm, then the heart may not be too damaged. About 220,000 deaths from heart attacks each year are thought to be caused by ventricular fibrillation. People who have heart disease or a history of heart attack have the highest risk of ventricular fibrillation.
Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is a fast, irregular rhythm where single muscle fibers in your heart twitch or contract. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), about 2.2 million Americans have atrial fibrillation. It is a main cause of stroke, especially among elderly people. Atrial fibrillation may cause blood to pool in the heart's upper chambers. The pooled blood can lead to the formation of clumps of blood called blood clots. A stroke can occur if a blood clot travels from the heart and blocks a smaller artery in the brain (a cerebral artery). About 15% of strokes happen in people with atrial fibrillation.
For this reason, many patients with atrial fibrillation need antiplatelet therapy. These medicines can prevent blood clots from forming and causing a stroke.
petey
And that most of us found out before we had a stroke.
petey