Interesting read ....
The Next 10 Years in Atrial Fibrillat... - Atrial Fibrillati...
The Next 10 Years in Atrial Fibrillation
Many thanks for posting this. I don't know where you find this stuff, Kaz747!
I have been dubbed the “Queen of Social Media” on many occasions 👑. In fact I’ve delivered a number of presentations and training sessions on it. You just have to follow the right people, conversations and hashtags 😉
It's an excellent summary, much appreciated. I guess you probably already follow the blogs of Dr John Mandrola and The Skeptical Cardiologist, both of which are instructive. We need an Aussie EP to start blogging!
Yes I do. There’s a couple of Aussie cardiologists that I follow who focus on lifestyle - not EPs but they often speak of AF, Dr Ross Walker in Sydney and Dr Warwick Bishop in Hobart. Dr Bishop has a book all about AF coming out soon.
Thanks. Interesting comment about insurers refusing cover for procedures for overweight patients. Not sure how that would go down if the NHS tried that!
No it wouldn’t happen in Australia either. As is often said, “only in America.....” 😃
That's very interesting. I guess the insurers are saying that if someone's overweight, then the AF is more likely to return so it's a waste of our time and money. That's a problem with the NHS, it picks up the pieces whatever people do to themselves. So much of the money spent by the NHS is on treating diseases which are preventable.
Yes and it’s good to see more doctors coming on board with lifestyle recommendations. There’s a long way to go though as so many people have lives that are out of control. We need a real societal shift.
Thanks much appreciated Kaz!
Interesting article. However if they're going down dictating the lifestyle route then what about runners and keep fit enthusiasts?
I'm saying that because i took up jogging in my early 40's and it wasn't until a few years into that when a heart murmur was detected. I'd had two children and it hadn't been detected before. A few years later, still running, AF began.
I was also diagnosed with an underactive thyroid in my 40's and I've need my thyroxine adjusted on a few occasions.
I always wonder if the running or thyroxine caused the heart problem.
Sometimes we just don’t know what causes things. My arrhythmias started after ankle surgery and my cardiologist and EP said the physical stress could have caused it. I also had preeclampsia with both pregnancies and that could have created an underlying problem which was triggered by the injury and surgery. I’m just glad our health care system in Australia and the UK treat everyone equally.
Me too but i don't think it unreasonable for the medical profession to encourage those effected to lose weight or make lifestyle adjustments when they could be exacerbating symptoms.
I thought the section on cardiac MRI particularly interesting. Targeted screening of patients at risk of AF, for atrial fibrosis and scarring would justify early intervention with ablation and the use of anticoagulants in younger patients with Chads score 0.