Atrial fibrillation, or A fib for short, is the most common heart rhythm issue that plagues people. About 30% of people will experience this rhythm disorder at some time in their lives, an issue that becomes more and more likely as we age. 

The rhythm is typically experienced as the sudden onset of breathlessness and lightheadedness, and sometimes chest pain, even while you are sitting or relaxing. This is because, with A fib, the heart rate is typically in the range of 150-220 beats per minute, way above the normal resting heart rate of 60-70 beats per minute. It’s the result of chaotic electrical signals originating from the atria of the heart, the normally thin-walled sacks at the top of the heart on the right and left side, i.e., the right and left atria. Beyond the symptoms of breathlessness and lightheadedness, A fib puts you at risk for stroke—not mini-strokes, but large catastrophic strokes. This is because there is a passive sack or appendage attached to the side of the left atrium called the left atrial appendage. Because during a bout of A fib, the atria stop their normal contractions in synchrony with the powerful ventricles, the main pumping chambers of the heart, blood stasis or standstill occurs, allowing the formation of blood clots in the left atrial appendage. Should the blood clot fragment or dislodge, it can go to your brain, resulting in a catastrophic stroke. This is why, in conventional cardiac care, blood thinners are administered almost immediately with the onset of A. fib. 

The management of this abnormal heart rhythm is fraught with difficulties and complications: toxic pharmaceuticals, procedures such as DC cardioversion in which a large and painful electrical shock is delivered with paddles to your chest, and others. So it is a good idea to take steps to avoid ever having this abnormal heart rhythm. Conventional advice typically includes achieving such things as controlling blood sugar and blood pressure with prescription drugs, or losing excess weight. But this leaves out some hugely important strategies that you can readily adopt that reduce your potential for experiencing A fib, as well as numerous other health problems. So that is the topic we consider here in this episode of the Defiant Health podcast.

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