when I finally got through all the NHS hoops and waiting time and finally saw an EP he said to me
“In your case we call it ‘lone AF’ as we have no idea what has caused it. I see you are ex military so for you I’m suggesting it was too much exercise, alcohol and coffee”
He did smile when he said that.
I just nodded in agreement !
G'day,
I have been on this forum ( including its predecessor hosted by Yahoo) ) for a tad over 15 years.
I'd be a very wealthy guy if I had a quid for every post I've read over that time that covered this ground. Internationally speaking it is a known fact that those in the community who are involved in extreme activities, that unreasonably punish the body in pursuit of happiness ( physical fitness or sheer joy ) are gonna end up with some sort of cardiac ailment, particularly if their family have some tendency to strokes, arrythmias etc. There are many occupations that have developed a reputation for doing the same .......... cyclists, marathon cyclists, runners, marathon runners, fighter pilots, even walkers/ramblers.
Just because ones heart beats away on a sorta regular basis ... there is no logical reason to assume its always gonna do so. That said, I bet that when they start on this misguided journey to happiness nobody has a heart check to see if it up to the stresses that are planned.
By the way, I have led a totally sedentry lifestyle both career and domestic lifestyle and it doesn't bother me one jot that I am unhealthy !
I think you might be overstating the negative effects of exercise undertaken by elite athletes. It certainly appears to be a risk factor for AF and other arrhythmias but doesn't doom them to all "end up with some sort of cardiac ailment". I'd be surprised if the average elite athlete didn't lead a longer, healthier life than the average sedentary person eating the SAD diet you refer to. I suspect extremes at either end are a risk to your health. However, happy to be proven wrong if you have evidence to the contrary.
I don’t recall talking about a SAD diet. No evidence to document here, rather my references were anecdotal arising from disclosures in print and visual media, one an Australian Olympic Cyclist and several other were UK female marathon runners and one male too. One of the females had a known heart condition at the time of her run ! But thems the breaks.
Sorry, it was someone else who referred to SAD diet.
There's certainly plenty of examples of elite athletes suffering from heart issues but there's tens of thousands of elite athletes around the world, possibly hundreds of thousands. So for each one experiencing problems there must be many more who don't otherwise it would be a major issue for the sports in question. I follow Australian Rules football and it has clamped down heavily on actions that result in concussions because of the now known long term potential health consequences. However, there's no push to restrict training loads or game time because of fears of causing long term heart issues. I'm sure that if there was evidence of widespread problems it would be reported and actions taken by the governing bodies.
However, the above is an assumption rather than based on any hard evidence. It might be that they just don't know enough about it
Oh my goodness ... Aussie Rules .... that takes me back to when I lived out on the edge of the Dandenongs .... Collingwood forever. Sadly I'm now in Cornwall, UK
In the vast majority of cases I consider AF is caused by at least a handful of principally poor lifestyle choices. The 'cure' is therefore likely to come from a handful of revised lifestyle choices.
I have found the book the 'AFib Cure' by John Day helpful.
I have 'lone AF', well it appears to be well controlled following ablation. I was told it was probably caused by binge drinking wine on a daily basis, in fact the nickname for AF is the 'holiday heart' as people can develop it following binge drinking on holiday
Does AF run in families?
AF and palpitations 
Are anticoagulants necessary for 'lone' AF?
Update to possible AF
Af starting to come thick and fast
