ARREST AFIB trial Dr. Dennis Lau from Adelaide, Australia made this analogy at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting in San Francisco. He works with Dr. Prasanthan Sanders’ group. This group published one of the seminal studies regarding lifestyle and AFIB – the ARREST AFIB trial. Lifestyle factors that lead to AFIB are like the leaking…
Tag: atrial fibrillation
anger, hostility and AFIB
Elaine Eaker et. al. published an interesting study in Circulation in 2004. It followed 1769 men and 1913 women from the Framingham Offspring Study. It showed that after adjusting for known risk factors such as age and high blood pressure, researchers found several traits significantly increased the risk of atrial fibrillation in men. Those with…
don’t be an Eeyore
Having type D personality is not good your cardiovascular health. Type D personality has 2 traits: Negative affectivity (worry, irritability, gloom). Social inhibition (reticence, lack of self assurance). The prevalence of Type D personality is 21% in the general population and 53% in cardiac patients. Cause or effect? Type D personality affects health related quality of life in…
anxiety, depression & AFIB
Bidirectional relationship There is a complex relationship between depression, anxiety, and AFIB. AFIB can cause depression and anxiety in patients. Depression and anxiety may create an environment that is conducive for the initiation and perpetuation of AFIB. Depression and anxiety affect how patients perceive their illness, and impact healthcare utilization. The presence of depression and…
AFIB & dementia
AFIB may cause cognitive decline via multiple mechanisms: Stroke Multiinfarct dementia due to microinfarcts Microbleeds as a result of anticoagulants Cerebral hypoperfusion – decreased blood flow to the brain Decline in brain volume Beta blockers ??may contribute Catheter ablation for AFIB contributes to micro infarcts (ACE – asymptomatic cerebral emboli) AFIB may be a marker…
processed food & mortality
A JAMA study from February 2019 showed highly processed food kills you. In 44 551 French adults 45 years or older, a 10% increase in the proportion of ultra-processed food consumption was statistically significantly associated with a 14% higher risk of all-cause mortality. Ultra processed food has high amounts of sugar, salt and saturated animal fat….
accupuncture & AFIB
Of all the non-allopathic (CAM – complementary and alternative) therapies out there, the only one that has been systematically studied is accupuncture. Puncturing of the Neiguan, Shenmen and Xinshu spots has been advocated to treat atrial fibrillation. The best study I can find in a peer reviewed journal is from JCE 2011. 80 patients post…
magnesium & AFIB
Low serum magnesium levels have been correlated with a risk of AFIB in both the ARIC and Framingham studies. There are also data that US population as a whole is deficient in magnesium. Here is an excellent review article on magnesium and its role in cardiovascular disease. There are data that magnesium supplementation may reduce…
work too much = AFIB
How does too much work lead to AFIB? Not enough sleep Not enough exercise Eating out too much Alcohol to relax after long day at work Stress However a recent study in the European Heart Journal showed that working long hours was an independent risk factor for AFIB. The authors state “Although the 2016 European…
nuts for AFIB
A large (61,000 subject) observational study from Sweden published in British Medical Journal in 2018. (With the usual caveats about correlation not causation, non-randomization etc.). Nut consumption ≥3 times/week was associated with an 18% reduced risk of atrial fibrillation. Nuts are a great source of the following nutrients: unsaturated fatty acids protein fiber magnesium, potassium, zinc…