Treating Atrial Fibrillation
Baptist Health Louisville: Treating Atrial Fibrillation
Cardiologist JOHN MANDROLA, MD talks about the signs, symptoms, and risk factors of irregular heartbeat, or atrial fibrillation, and describes the most common treatment options, including electrophysiology.
Treating Atrial Fibrillation Health Talks Transcript
John M. Mandrola, MD
Atrial Fibrillation is a heart rhythm problem where the top chambers of the heart get out of sync with the bottom chambers of the heart. Anybody can be affected by atrial fibrillation. It’s most common as we get older, and we get other kinds of diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes and obesity. The most common symptom is an irregular heartbeat, but also shortness of breath and fatigue. It affects people in many different ways. Some people have lots of symptoms, but other people have no symptoms, and all in between. The seriousness of atrial fibrillation depends on the person. I tend to think that the happier the person is, the better their heart rhythm will be. Atrial fibrillation is rarely fatal, but it is serious, and it requires attention and therapy. The United States leads the world in atrial fibrillation. The likely reason is that we have such a problem with obesity and high blood pressure and sleep disorders because those associated diseases go along with atrial fibrillation. Baptist Health has a long record of taking care of patients with atrial fib, and we offer specialized care with electrophysiology here as well.
