Heart disease

[Tux18]

Is afib considered a heart disease? When filling out forms there is frequently a question asking if I have heart disease and I usually scribble in afib by question rather than answer -yes or no.

[Hidden]

Hi there,

In my view, AF is not a heart disease. Rather it is a condition or disorder.

I think you'll find that ..... "A disease has a causative agent and a specific course of projection or progress", something like arthritis fer instance, or Alzheimers, whereas a condition is just something that is particular to a person. Something like crossed eyes is a condition or disorder, not a disease and it will not progress ... it simply is in a state of being !

I haven't had to declare my AF since last taking out travel insurance and have NOT EVER declared AF as a disease. I have however, declared on the bit that talks about any other information to declare, paroxysmal AF, medication used and date of last event. Job done.

I also hold a UK bus drivers licence and I have an annual medical and have to declare this at every medical. I've done this now for at least the last 5 years, my condition hasn't deteriorated, marginally improved if anything and apart from medication I am not under the ongoing care of GP's or Cardiac Consultants. DVLA do not regard it as a disease that I can see.

In any event for AF to be considered a disease, yes it has a cause ( an electrical malfunction) BUT no specific course of projection or progress.

If you lined up all the contributors to this forum side by side you'd get a big long line but it would meander all over the place if you measured each contributors progress (if you get my drift). for each individual it would NOT show a specific state of projection or progress UNIFORM to everyone. It just isn't and doesn't behave in that way.

Well thats my view anyway, apologies for perhaps not explaining it very well.

John

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Well I understood it!!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Right

[Tux18 in reply to Hidden]

You explained it very well. And you are right if each of us on this forum were to give our condition, past present, etc the information given would meander a great deal.

Thanks for your reply.

[Melbuckton in reply to Hidden]

I thought you explained it very well!

[Camelia23 in reply to Hidden]

I like your explanation. I was diagnosed with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation on 1st September and am having difficulty getting my head around it. Eg I am now less likely to have a stroke being on Apixaban but can also have a bleed on the brain. I'm trying to be positive, exercise, eat sensibly and worry less but the mind is a powerful influence. Your explanation gives me some hope.

[BobD Volunteer]

We had a similar question a few days ago which I answered. The general use of "heart disease" covers arterial blockages and similar problems such as heart muscle damage etc. I doubt any of us consider AF to be heart disease as it is a condition as carneuny mentions.

I know that when I ticked that box years ago I was refused mortgage cover life insurance so yes it is a rocky road.

HOWEVER,( and my grammar school English master would cane me for staring a sentence with however) you MUST advise any insuarance company about any medical condition just as you must DVLA regarding your driving license where appropriate or you could find that you are not insured in the event of a claim . Many forms are legal documents and there could be penalties for failing to declare.

[Billiam54 in reply to BobD]

Receiving the cane for starting a sentence with the word "However" is a bit harsh Bob. However, forgetting your PE kit or smoking in the toilets are unforgivable misdemeanours and deserve at the very least a good British six of the best. No wonder they abolished corporal punishment in schools. :-).

[cbsrbpm in reply to Billiam54]

And not eating your Macaroni Cheese 🤦‍♀️

[Melbuckton in reply to BobD]

It's such a joy being able to start a sentence with however and not be caned.

Good waste of telephone directories....

[Dawsonmackay]

I googled your question. After reading thirty responses that did not say that Afib was heart disease, medical news today wrote: "Atrial fibrillation is a heart disease that leads to twitching and malfunction in the walls of the heart and irregular heart rhythm."

[Tux18 in reply to Dawsonmackay]

That is interesting!

[djmnet in reply to Dawsonmackay]

I'm going to pretend I didn't read that. I like carneuny and bobd's answers better.

[momist]

Be very careful if applying for travel to the USA. I mistakenly answered 'yes' to a compound question on line asking if I had any medical condition or terrorist conviction. I expected that to open up further questions so I could tell them I have AF. No. I was simply refused without first attending an interview in their London embassy. There was no way I could have got that through in time to attend the funeral I was hoping to go to. I never went for the interview and now have no plans or wish to go to their country ever in my life.

[Melbuckton]

American federal aviation info:

Like other arrhythmias, Afib is more of an electrical conduction issue and is not considered to be heart disease in the regulatory sense but is considered under the “general medical condition” section of Part 67. The diagnosis still requires a special issuance medical authorization for operations that require a medical certificate. However, for operations under BasicMed, Afib that is well controlled and followed by your treating physician does not require prior special issuance consideration by the FAA.

[Cookie24]

Good question as I wondered about that. Is hypertension considered a heart disease?

[Hidden]

Afib is definitely not a disease. It's a condition that some doctors think is a disease, some a condition, but all doctors agree that they don't really know what causes afib. I have accumulated some data over the years and will cut-and-paste it for you here. Give it a try - got nothing to lose:

-----------------------------------

After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer (this is why all doctors agree that afib gets worse as you get older). If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate (afternoon) exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??

I'm pretty sure that Afib is caused by a gland(s) - like the Pancreas or Thyroid - or an organ that, in our old age, is not working well anymore and excess sugar or dehydration is causing them to send mixed signals to the heart - for example telling the heart to beat fast and slow at the same time - which causes it to skip beats, etc. I can't prove that (and neither can my doctors), but I have a very strong suspicion that that is the root cause of our Afib problems. I am working on this with a Nutritionist and hope to get some definitive proof in a few months.

Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer

PS – there is a study backing up this data you can view at:

https//cardiab.biomedcentral.com/a...