Afib and CAD double trouble and their vicious cycle

[SeanJax]

CAD (coronary artery disease) is a subset of a process disease called atherosclerosis, plaques of mainly fat build up inside arteries leading to intraluminal stenosis..

I post this one to draw attention to all of us, afibers, not trying to scare any of us. The purpose of this post is to do the right things to prevent the disease as long as we can. Prevention is the key because once we got it, the disease is progressive as Afib itself.

Atherosclerosis can affect the carotid, the aorta (aneurysm and aorta dissection), arteries of the legs (PAD, peripheral artery disease) and coronary arteries of the heart. Plaques can get dislodged from the carotid and go to the brain causing strokes. Plaques can dislodge from the coronary arteries and causing MI, heart attack. After the heart attack, the EF goes down significantly and if you add to it, Afib episodes, patient would go to heart failure pretty quick.

Patients with CAD usually will get stents or bypass surgery and after it, they need to be put under antiplatelet therapy such as aspirin and/or plavix (clopidogrel) in addition to DOAC. This dual or triple therapy increases considerably the risks of bleedings among other risks.

With CAD, arteries are blocked to some extent degrees (totally blocked, mildly, moderately or severely blocked) and the heart already lacks oxygen to function properly and if you add afib episodes to it, the lack of oxygen might cause other arrythmias especially VT.

The two diseases promote the occurrence and progression of each other, forming a vicious cycle. In this regard, CAD can be both a cause and a consequence of AF.

To prevent or control CAD, here are the main risk factors: high blood pressure, diabetes, dyslipidemias, overweight/obesity, sleep apnea, smoking, age, and decreased physical activity. Mainly bad diet, salty food, processed food, and lack of exercise. Easy said than done. Please do not forget both diseases are progressive ones.

[Hidden]

Thanks for posting this! There is a very simple but effective way to help, which is not popular nowadays and has been almost forgotten - fasting. Leaving your body without enough nutrients (for some time) causes "dusting" in the body and dismantling all the unnecessary matter in the body, the excess fat before all, but also plaque and the rest.

There is also the theory about curing via starvation. My father had stomach issues starting from the age of 38. All his life he was looking for the cure, but without success. In his late 50ties, he decided to try fasting and spent a month at the cottage, feeding only on grapes and bread, very modestly. After that, his health improved and he gained 6-7 kg (had the bones for 90 kg, but was lingering at 65 kg for very long).

Another example - many of the people who spent couple of years in concentrating camps, during the WWII, and survived, returned home "bones and skin", weighting 50 kg. They underwent a "cure", lasting pretty long, and many lived to be 90+. My uncle was at Dahau, went through the hell, and died aged 94. Worth having in mind... (Let's organize concentration camps again, lol)

[Autumn_Leaves]

Thank you for your very informative post. I agree we all need to take care of our general health as much as we can. There are factors which we can change and factors we cannot, like our age and our genetics. We all process fats and sugars differently, our immune system ‘type’ is also genetically determined to some extent, and early life factors such as exposure to antibiotics and whether we were born via natural birth or caesarean section will affect our gut microbiome which in turn can influence our predisposition to autoimmune conditions and even our vulnerability to mental health disorders. However, there is a lot that is within our control, but if we are honest with ourselves, we all know what to do, we all know what types of food aren’t good for us, we all know alcohol over a certain limit isn’t very smart, we shouldn’t smoke and a good nights sleep is beneficial. Consistent healthy behaviours are what get results, again, if we are honest with ourselves we’ll know whether we’re actually maintaining good habits.

[meg4u in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Thankyou so much for this post.I have Afib paroxysmal and just been diagnosed with Coronary vessel D1 disease and not sure if it shortens your life or what more I can do. My diet is healthy with only one organic coffee a day ..probably have too many healthy nuts which I must cut down on and one square of dark chocolate. Walk 20 minutes a day will be increasing this. The rest is healthy veg protein pulses . Take medication but dk what else I can do. I dk if I am slowing this disease down or not

I asked the Cardiologist about fasting and she no..you need 3 meals healthy a day Tablets need food to work with and fluids coming from the stomach can affect the heart.

I used to fast 18 /6 and liked it now I have yo stop.

I would love to know more as this D1 disease I find worrying and one thing we must do us worry!!

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to meg4u]

Sorry to hear about that. We can only do our best. Please remember that there are many people who have CAD without being aware of it, so they’re not having scans and tests, medications etc. It’s devastating to knowingly live with a cardiac condition but at least those who have a diagnosis are in a position to do their best to manage it and hopefully minimise their risks. You’re doing all you can.

I’m not so sure about fasting these days. There’s definitely something to be said for not eating past dinner and giving yourself a minimum of 12 hours without food. I learned about IF and TRE during the first lockdown and was initially excited by it, but it seems that the research on humans and TRE have been underwhelming. I don’t doubt that some people find it helps eg for acid reflux/GERD at night and possibly as a strategy for weight loss in people who need to lose weight, as it keeps them out of the kitchen at night or nibbling in front of the TV in the evening if that was an unhelpful habit for them, so overall they end up eating less. Other than that, TRE doesn’t quite seem to be living up to its initial promises. I cannot afford to lose weight, I’m strictly 3x full meals a day, I don’t go more than 14 hours without eating. I need to protect my bones and my muscles besides the brain needs a regular supply of fuel to function optimally. But I also know that we’re all individuals, we all have different bodies and different metabolism, and we all live in the real world and there’s work and family and relationships going on too, so we all have to find a way that works for us.