A resting human heart usually beats between 60 and 100 times per minute. It is common, however, to feel that our heartbeat is faster than normal. This occurs when we practice exercises, live stimulating experiences or feel fear, for example.
In these situations, the body needs the heart to beat faster so that the blood pumped by it carries more oxygen to the rest of the body. This process happens to enhance the burning of sugars and nutrients that give us energy.
However, when the rhythm of the heartbeat is accelerated without a specific need, or beating out of rhythm, it is said that the person has a cardiac arrhythmia. Arrhythmias are relatively common, and can manifest in many ways, with different causes and consequences, and among the lesser known types of arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation (AF).
WHAT IS ATRIAL FIBRILLATION?
It is a disease that causes disorganization in the electrical activity of the atria of the heart, causing them to “fibrillate”, that is, to contract in a disorderly way, which can impair the pumping of blood to the rest of the body and cause consequences such as clot formation. These clots can move from the heart to the kidneys, legs or intestines and, in the most serious cases, cause an ischemic stroke.
CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE
The causes of atrial fibrillation are mainly pre-existing cardiovascular diseases in the patient, high blood pressure being the most common, characterized by a high level of pressure in the arteries, which leads the heart to make a greater effort than necessary to make the blood circulate in the body.
For some people, atrial fibrillation has no symptoms, but for others, the main ones are palpitations, a feeling that the heart is racing and a strong malaise, as well as dizziness and tiredness. These symptoms usually manifest themselves in their acute form, which makes their diagnosis to be made in an emergency.
The Doctor. José Francisco Kerr Saraiva, researcher and professor of Cardiology at PUC Campinas, states that “Atrial fibrillation patients often arrive at hospitals and health centers scared, with rapid heartbeats and a feeling that the heart is going to come out of the mouth. It is usually in this situation that we make the diagnosis, through pulse examinations and electrocardiograms”.
Because its main causes are other cardiovascular diseases, prevalent among the older population, atrial fibrillation is more common among the elderly, especially those over 70 years old, and a series of habits represent risk factors for its appearance. “People who have already had a heart attack, smokers, people who consume alcohol and coffee in excess and who have thyroid disease are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation, especially when they are elderly”. Other habits, however, represent predictive factors.tion for the disease. Practicing regular exercise, for example, leads to weight loss and lowering blood pressure, which helps prevent cardiovascular disease, which can lead to atrial fibrillation.
TREATMENTS
For those who already have the disease, the treatment is carried out in two ways: on the one hand, controlling the heartbeat or rhythm, and, on the other, preventing the formation of clots. This prevention is done using anticoagulant drugs, which prevent the formation of thrombi and reduce the chances of strokes, whose risk associated with AF increases as other diseases are added to the patient’s condition.
It is important to emphasize that atrial fibrillation is an arrhythmia and that, with healthy habits, adequate blood pressure control, combating smoking and regular physical activity, it is possible to keep it under control and greatly reduce the chances of having any further consequences. serious.
A resting human heart usually beats between 60 and 100 times per minute. It is common, however, to feel that our heartbeat is faster than normal. This occurs when we practice exercises, live stimulating experiences or feel fear, for example.
In these situations, the body needs the heart to beat faster so that the blood pumped by it carries more oxygen to the rest of the body. This process happens to enhance the burning of sugars and nutrients that give us energy.
However, when the rhythm of the heartbeat is accelerated without a specific need, or beating out of rhythm, it is said that the person has a cardiac arrhythmia. Arrhythmias are relatively common, and can manifest in many ways, with different causes and consequences, and among the lesser known types of arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation (AF).
WHAT IS ATRIAL FIBRILLATION?
It is a disease that causes disorganization in the electrical activity of the atria of the heart, causing them to “fibrillate”, that is, to contract in a disorderly way, which can impair the pumping of blood to the rest of the body and cause consequences such as clot formation. These clots can move from the heart to the kidneys, legs or intestines and, in the most serious cases, cause an ischemic stroke.
CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE
The causes of atrial fibrillation are mainly pre-existing cardiovascular diseases in the patient, high blood pressure being the most common, characterized by a high level of pressure in the arteries, which leads the heart to make a greater effort than necessary to make the blood circulate in the body.
For some people, atrial fibrillation has no symptoms, but for others, the main ones are palpitations, a feeling that the heart is racing and a strong malaise, as well as dizziness and tiredness. These symptoms usually manifest themselves in their acute form, which makes their diagnosis to be made in an emergency.
The Doctor. José Francisco Kerr Saraiva, researcher and professor of Cardiology at PUC Campinas, states that “Atrial fibrillation patients often arrive at hospitals and health centers scared, with rapid heartbeats and a feeling that the heart is going to come out of the mouth. It is usually in this situation that we make the diagnosis, through pulse examinations and electrocardiograms”.
Because its main causes are other cardiovascular diseases, prevalent among the older population, atrial fibrillation is more common among the elderly, especially those over 70 years old, and a series of habits represent risk factors for its appearance. “People who have already had a heart attack, smokers, people who consume alcohol and coffee in excess and who have thyroid disease are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation, especially when they are elderly”. Other habits, however, represent predictive factors.tion for the disease. Practicing regular exercise, for example, leads to weight loss and lowering blood pressure, which helps prevent cardiovascular disease, which can lead to atrial fibrillation.
TREATMENTS
For those who already have the disease, the treatment is carried out in two ways: on the one hand, controlling the heartbeat or rhythm, and, on the other, preventing the formation of clots. This prevention is done using anticoagulant drugs, which prevent the formation of thrombi and reduce the chances of strokes, whose risk associated with AF increases as other diseases are added to the patient’s condition.
It is important to emphasize that atrial fibrillation is an arrhythmia and that, with healthy habits, adequate blood pressure control, combating smoking and regular physical activity, it is possible to keep it under control and greatly reduce the chances of having any further consequences. serious.
