Surviving Disease – Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial Fibrillation. Many people have heard about Atrial Fibrillation. Even so, I hope you continue to read about this relatively common heart disease, which can be unpleasant. Moreover, if not treated, it can be life-threatening in some circumstances. Causes are too many to mention (a thousand), but the big ones are: Congenital heart diseases and athletes with predisposition to heart disease. Wow, Athletes! I had a patient in his 20s who had something called Wolff Parkinson White syndrome which is a serious congenital defect with atrial fibrillation. I was glad he told his doctor how he was feeling and we did identify an abnormality on his ECG for something referred to as a delta wave. Something subtle that can be easily missed. If you remember, my father had heart disease, most likely due to smoking and being overweight. He had a heart attack, mitral valve disease, and congestive heart failure...
