My maternal grandfather was my father figure. We affectionately called him “Dhomdada” after a character he used to play in the local theater. He grew up poor, “stone soup” was a reality for them, not just a story. He didn’t finish high school since his family had very little money and he needed to start…
Tag: sleep
sleep apnea & AFIB
Half the patients with AFIB also have sleep apnea. Patients with sleep apnea have 4 times the risk of developing atrial fibrillation. How does sleep apnea contribute to AFIB? Potential mechanisms: Changes in intrathoracic pressure during apneic episodes leads to left atrial stretch. Intermittent periods of hypoxemia (low oxygen) and hypercapnia (high carbon dioxide) related…
sleep 7 hrs
Inspired by Dr. Koushik Krishnan who runs a lifestyle program for the veterans at VA Hospital in Tampa. Here is something I lifted straight off his Twitter page : “Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.” – Gandhi
the wanderer (vagus) & AFIB
The Latin word vagus means “wandering”. The vagus is the longest nerve in the autonomic nervous system in the body. It is a parasympathetic nerve, i.e. it counters the fight or flight response. It innervates the heart, lung and stomach among other things. Just like the famous Nordic wanderer, Odin, the vagus nerve has been attributed with a lot…
patient reported AFIB triggers
sleep quality & AFIB
Sleep apnea is strongly associated with atrial fibrillation. However, even after adjusting for sleep apnea, quality of sleep is an independent predictor for atrial fibrillation. Here is the full article: Article summary : The 2 variables that correlated with increased risk of AFIB – time required to fall asleep and frequent nighttime awakening. This decreases…
sleep hygeine
Too many patients ask me for a “sleeping pill”. These drugs are habit forming and over time lose their effectiveness. They also lead to poor sleep quality, drowsiness in the morning, amnesia etc. Others try self medicating with alcohol, marijuana or other over the counter “sleeping aids” like diphenhydramine (Benadryl). “Sleep hygeine” is the best…
sleep well or die
Lack of sleep has been correlated with disease and death. It seems sleep deprivation modulates the autonomic tone and therefore leads to increase in risk of cardiac arrhythmias. The next study is quite interesting – either too much (>8 h per night) or too little (<7 h per night) of sleep increases mortality. It starts…
obesity and AFIB
Atrial fibrillation has a strong correlation with obesity. A study from Australia showed that if obese patients lost 10% of their weight, they had better outcomes. Another study shows the same. REVERSE-AF was a large, well publicised study with similar results. It seems that a lot of these studies come from Australia, where patients have…