What You Need To Know About Living With AFib Today

Atrial Fibrillation or A-Fib has become a more common heart condition dealt with by more and more Americans.  To examine the details, I was joined by CentraCare Cardiologist Dr. Jamie Pelzel.  He is the Director of the Heart Failure Program in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at CentraCare.  Dr. Pelzel has been with CentraCare in St. Cloud for the past 18 years.

What is A-Fib?

Dr. Pelzel says A-Fib is the most common heart rhythm disorder and as a cardiologist, we come across this almost everyday.  He describes A-Fib as a condition where the heart rhythm goes out of sync.  Dr. Pelzel says each one of us is born with a pacemaker for our heart and when a person develops A-Fib that pacemaker is no longer setting the pace.  He says a chaotic form of activity is happening in the top chamber of your heart when you have A-Fib.  Dr. Pelzel says A-Fib creates an irregular heart rhythm that sometimes goes too fast but can also go too slow.

Rhythm Can Be Restored

Dr. Pelzel says a lot of times when people come in with A-Fib, they can restore that person back to a normal rhythm .  He says sometimes people just live with this and sometimes A-Fib just goes in and out for them.

Risk Factors

There are a lot of factors that can lead someone to A-Fib. Dr. Pelzel says genetics, high blood pressure, a previous heart attack, sleep apnea, coronary artery disease, people with valve problems, and age.  He says age is the biggest risk factor.  Dr. Pelzel says once a person reaches 75-80 years old approximately 15% of people can have A-Fib.  He says people that are overweight and out of shape face a secondary risk factor.

Reduce the Risk

Dr. Pelzel says a recent study has shown that for those who do regular aerobic activities, that decreases the risk of getting A-Fib.

Treatment

Dr. Pelzel says there are a few people who have a single case of A-Fib but it's fairly rare.  He says if you have it it tends to come back again.  He says they offer ablation therapy at CentraCare which can cure or reduce the affects of A-Fib.

If you'd like to listen to my 4-part conversation with Dr. Jamie Pelzel, click below.