_http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/health/07heartside.html?ex=1186545600&en=8e
3b94df53e01fa9&ei=5070_
(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/health/07heartside.html?ex=1186545600&en=8e3b\
94df53e01fa9&ei=5070)

I was very disturbed about the comment in the NYT affib article below- In
all my years of having affib not one Doctor has ever mentioned anything like
this to me- They have always stated that Affib will not affect the normal life
span- Any comments, thoughts, does anyone know the specifics of the study they
are referring to?


"And research suggests the added burden that inefficient atrial pumping puts
on the ventricles may contribute over time to heart failure." (See article
below)- Jerry


July 7, 2007- The New York Times
Evolving View of Dangers of Atrial Fibrillation
By BARNABY J. FEDER

Atrial fibrillation occurs when stray electrical pulses set off muscle
contractions that disrupt the coordinated top-to-bottom pumping action of the
atria: two small blood-receiving chambers atop the heart.
That disruption can cause the atria to beat more than 300 times a minute and
hamper the ability of the atria to carry out their function of filling the
heart’s main pumps, the ventricles, with blood at the start of every
heartbeat.
Fibrillation is more chaotic than another common rhythm irregularity known
as atrial flutter. And it is harder to treat because it is far less likely
than the flutter condition to be confined to the right atrium. The fibrillation
can transform the normally coordinated pumping into a disorganized clash of
localized mini-contractions that doctors say makes the muscle fibers of the
atria look like a bucket of writhing worms.
Until the 1990s, atrial fibrillation was noted mostly for the number of
false alarms it generated among patients who showed up at emergency rooms
fearing
they were having heart attacks.
Doctors viewed it as relatively benign because the most common symptoms —
palpitations, dizziness and shortness of breath — were tolerable and often
short-lived. No matter how bad patients may have felt, enough blood still
flowed
into the ventricles to sustain adequate circulation, as long as the
ventricles remained healthy.
But doctors now recognize that atrial fibrillation allows blood to pool in
the atria and form clots, which in turn may explain why such patients are
prone to strokes and heart attacks.
About a third of strokes in patients 80 years or older are attributable to
atrial fibrillation, and such strokes are more likely to be deadly than other
types, according to studies summarized by Dr. Andrew E. Epstein, a researcher
at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, at a meeting of heart rhythm
specialists last month in Denver. And research suggests the added burden that
inefficient atrial pumping puts on the ventricles may contribute over time to
heart failure.

BARNABY J. FEDER
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company





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