Short Circuits in the Heart: A Look at Atrial Fibrillation

When the hot water went out, you might call a plumber, but if the water heater is out it might instead be an electrical problem - just like how heart problems can stem from faulty electrical signals rather than the heart muscle itself. Atrial fibrillation (AFib), the most common arrhythmia affecting six million Americans, disrupts the heart’s electrical system, causing rapid, chaotic beating that increases stroke risk fivefold. In this week's episode, we review AFib, the risk factors to develop it, symptoms , how it happens, and treatments. Water you waiting for, listen today!Share with a friend. Rate, Review, and Subscribe to MedEvidence! Articles to be notified when new episodes are released.Follow us on Social Media:FacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInTiktokYoutubeFor more great content, including discussions by physicians and clinical research experts, check out the MedEvidence! podcast. www.MedEvidence.comThank you for listening!References:Heijman, J., Voigt, N., Nattel, S., & Dobrev, D. (2014). Cellular and molecular electrophysiology of atrial fibrillation initiation, maintenance, and progression. Circulation research, 114(9), 1483-1499. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.114.302226Lip, G. Y., Fauchier, L., Freedman, S. B., Van Gelder, I., Natale, A., Gianni, C., ... & Lane, D. A. (2016). Atrial fibrillation (Primer). Nature Reviews: Disease Primers, 2(1). https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/atrial-fibrillation-primer/docview/2711094799/se-2?accountid=14690Lloyd-Jones, D. M., Wang, T. J., Leip, E. P., Larson, M. G., Levy, D., Vasan, R. S., ... & Benjamin, E. J. (2004). Lifetime risk for development of atrial fibrillation: the Framingham Heart Study. Circulation, 110(9), 1042-1046. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/01.CIR.0000140263.20897.42Munger, T.M., Wu, L.Q., Shen, W.K..(2013).  Atrial fibrillation. J Biomed Res.28(1):1-17. doi: 10.7555/JBR.28.20130191. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3904170/Koren, M.J., & Sanghvi, N. (14 June, 2023). Two docs talk A-fib. On MedEvidence! Truth Behind the Data. [Podcast]. https://medevidence.com/two-docs-talk-a-fib-1Wijesurendra, R. S., & Casadei, B. (2019). Mechanisms of atrial fibrillation. Heart, 105(24), 1860-1867. https://heart.bmj.com/content/105/24/1860.abstractYao, Y., Yang, M., Liu, D., & Zhao, Q. (2022). Immune remodeling and atrial fibrillation. Frontiers in Physiology, 13, 927221. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.927221/fullShare with a friend. Rate, Review, and Subscribe to MedEvidence! Articles to be notified when new episodes are released.Follow us on Social Media:FacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInTiktokYoutubeFor more great content, including discussions by physicians and clinical research experts, check out the MedEvidence! Podcast and MedEvidence.comThank you for listening!