Atrial Fibrillation (cont.)
Daniel Lee Kulick, MD, FACC, FSCAI
Dr. Kulick received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. He performed his residency in internal medicine at the Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center and a fellowship in the section of cardiology at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology.
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
In this Article
- Atrial fibrillation facts
- What is atrial fibrillation?
- What causes atrial fibrillation?
- What are the symptoms of atrial fibrillation?
- What are the complications of atrial fibrillation?
- What are the risk factors for developing atrial fibrillation?
- How is atrial fibrillation diagnosed?
- What is the treatment for atrial fibrillation?
- Reversing the risk factors that cause atrial fibrillation
- Slowing the heart rate with medications
- Anticoagulation to prevent blood clots and strokes
- Converting atrial fibrillation to a normal rhythm
- Procedures for treating and preventing atrial fibrillation
- What is new in atrial fibrillation?
- Atrial Fibrillation - Slideshow
- Take the Atrial Fibrillation Quiz!
- Heart Disease - Slideshow
- Atrial Fibrillation A-Fib FAQs
- Find a local Cardiologist in your town
What are the risk factors for developing atrial fibrillation?
There are many risk factors for developing atrial fibrillation. These risk factors are:
- Increased age (1% of people over 60 years of age have atrial fibrillation)
- Coronary heart disease (including heart attack)
- High blood pressure
- Abnormal heart muscle function (including congestive heart failure)
- Disease of the mitral valve between the left and right ventricle
- An overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) or overdose of thyroid medication
- Low amounts of oxygen in the blood, for example, as occurs with lung diseases such as emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Inflammation of the lining surrounding the heart (pericarditis)
- Blood clots in the lung (pulmonary embolism)
- Chronic lung diseases (emphysema, asthma, COPD)
- Excessive intake of alcohol (alcoholism)
- Stimulant drug use such as cocaine or decongestants
- Recent heart or lung surgery
- Abnormal heart structure from the time of birth (congenital heart disease)
About 1 in 10,000 otherwise healthy, young adults have atrial fibrillation without any apparent cause or underlying heart disease. Atrial fibrillation in these individuals usually is intermittent, but can become chronic in 25%. This condition is referred to as lone atrial fibrillation. Stress, alcohol, tobacco, or use of stimulants may play a role in causing lone atrial fibrillation.
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