Please read the below press release by European Society of Cardiology.
Atrial fibrillation set to affect mor... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Atrial fibrillation set to affect more than 14 million over-65s in the EU by 2060
7 Replies
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Copy and paste from the article
.......Dr Di Carlo said GPs should opportunistically screen for atrial fibrillation by performing pulse palpation during every consultation........
100% agree. It would take 30 seconds and save the NHS ££££££
It would also save lives ! To many people are walking about with afib that have no idea they have the condition. Routine screening is a must IMO. Also more patient awareness is a good idea - again it takes 30 seconds to check your own pulse and seek a doctors opinion if there seems to be a problem.
The people on this forum are the lucky ones. They know they have afib and are being treated - many others are not aware of the problem they could face if it goes unchecked - ticking and time bomb spring to mind.
Best,
Paul
Tell all your friends and spread the word.
Our doctor GP has always examined us every time we go for a prescription renewal (here in France you cannot get the one by putting in a form or ringing the surgery) - pulse ,blood pressure, lungs, questions about bowel function and sleep . Every year a battery of blood tests for glucose level , blood composition, prostrate for husband , kidney function etc.
Warning patients about what symptoms to look for is important as is tackling the enormous health risks of modern diets and lack of exercise. Even when AF patients are 'in the system' things can be overlooked.
Understanding and health care of arrhymias is patchy - there are areas of excellence with superb staff and there are deserts with gaping holes in care where nothing much seems to be done.
A health time bomb.
This is one point of view. I. have read other clinical trials on Medscape where what appears to be AF is detected and then all the tests and drugs begin when in fact it was a heart blip that was not important. For me at least, adding drugs immediately nearly killed. me. I think to be sure you really have AF, to what degrees, and how often needs a much slower evaluation in some instances and not jumping in with all guns blazing. The tests and drugs can even cause or ascerbate AF making it more of a problem than it could have been or maybe skewing the initial diagnosis. If you actually do have frequent AF, you probably have had it for awhile so a bit of careful analysis, before taking drugs, at the beginning will not lead to death, whereas treatment might.
It would be interesting to know how many people had treatment start immediately without the patient knowing or understanding the possible options. Doctors raise all the alarms but do they really truthfully explain the various options, such as improving ones health; and do they mention the clinical trials that raise doubt about treatments and drugs. If they did, the patient could make a more informed decision and be less stressed about AF.
Once you are on the drug bandwagon, no one will help you get off and doctors sometimes are reluctant to taking the drugs away because they become open to malpractise, should something happen, and their insurance won't cover them. So a bit more analysis first and informed patient questions are the way to go in my opinion.
Totally agree.
My cardiologist wasn’t in favour of either anti-arrhythmic drugs or ablation at the start of my treatment but he didn’t take/didn’t have the time to go into his reasons in any depth.
I was uninformed, shocked by the diagnosis, scared witless and having AF and tachycardia daily and was in no position to make an informed decision. Through this forum I learned about lifestyle changes and diet but by that time I was taking Flecainide and, although I tried twice to reduce my dose, the arrhythmias came back.
He is working to establish a support group to ensure, amongst many other things, that there is a counselling phase after diagnosis in our Health Trust area. Wish it had been there for me - I would probably have been willing to try managing without Flecainide - perhaps. 🙂
