According to statistics, there are about 2.2 million U.S citizens who have atrial fibrillation. This is a heart condition characterized by an irregular beating of the atrial chambers of the heart. The rapid beating occurs when the atria fails to function properly and can result into variety of complications such as stroke. There’s no cure for this condition but there are several ways to manage this and control irregular beating of the heart.  Patients can manage this through medication, electrical cardioversion or by means of surgical ablation.

People with afib usually rely on prescription drugs first. They manage their heart condition with medications that slow down their heart rate that is mixed with a blood thinner so as to decrease the risk of stroke.

 If the first kind of medication doesn’t work that’s the only time they can resort to a prescription drug that helps restoring their normal heart rate. These three kinds of medications help in managing afib but there are some patients who are more successful in taking electric shocks to their heart or most popularly known as electrical cardioversion before taking the controlled drugs.

Those with serious cases of afib are encouraged to undergo this process right away to restore their regular hear rate. There are also some who resort to this but only when the medications are no longer working for them.  This is considered to be effective in putting their hearts back in normal sinus rhythm but surprisingly this is not enough to make their heart rate stable.

They may need to take multiple tries of electrical cardioversion before their heart rate returns to normal but eventually it will beat irregularly again. It is safe to say that this process is not enough to cure afib.

Some studies show that electrical cardioversion has a 90% success rate but after sometime people experience signs of atrial fibrillation again. The success of managing this heart condition depends on the kind of medication they take, the size of their left atrium and the span of time they have this condition.

It sounds likes it’s quite a challenge to manage afib. But with the proper information and by following the recommendations of their physicians, they can manage this. But they should still monitor their condition because there is a high possibility that they would revert to afib.  People with this condition should just take all the needed medications like anticoagulants and even antiarrhythmic drugs, and try all their options. With continuous medication intake and taking electric shocks to their hearts, they will most likely maintain this condition and prevent other complications such as stroke.

People suffering from afib are more prone to stroke about five times than those without the said condition. This only gives them a bit of a sense of urgency to do something about their condition as soon as possible so as to avoid any further complications. They are given with variety of options to manage atrial fibrillation and even if the likelihood of reverting to this condition is high, at least they’ve done something to control the make their heart rate normal.

Stroke is a condition wherein the flow of blood to the brain is disrupted due to a blood clot or ruptured blood vessel or artery. A lack of oxygen or glucose in the blood causes brain damage or death of the brain cells. This leads to speechlessness or loss of memory or impairment of any part of the body.

Types and severity of stroke

There are two major types of strokes namely ischemic and hemorrhagic. The former is the more prevalent as it is observed in close to 75% of the stroke patients. This type of stroke happens when there is a blood clot or thrombus that disrupts the flow of blood to the brain. The clotting of blood in any part of the body causing free-floating of the blood is termed as embolus. This type of circulating blood clot if carried to the brain causes ischemic stroke. The hemorrhagic stroke generally occurs when the blood in any part of the brain fills the space between the brain and the skull.

This condition may be caused when any of the blood vessel or artery in the brain ruptures inefficiently. Sometimes, it may yield severe symptoms when there is a heavy build up of blood in the part of the brain.

The severity of the stroke depends largely on which part of the brain the stroke occurs and to what extent it has affected the flow of the blood. If the condition is mild, then the person may experience weakness in the arms, difficulty in moving, incontinence or problems in the urinary bladder. Nevertheless, severe strokes can lead to paralysis or death.

Causes of stroke

Ischemic strokes occur when an embolus or thrombus blocks the flow of bloodstream to the brain. Thrombus clots (or blood clots) occur when the arteries are damaged by atherosclerosis (fatty deposits of blood). The embolus blood clots are caused mainly due to atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular heartbeat pattern that ultimately results in clot or poor flow of blood.
Hemorrhage strokes are caused due to high blood pressure, head injury, or aneurysms (a type of cardiovascular disease). High blood pressure is one of the chief causes of cerebral hemorrhage mainly because it causes some of the brain arteries to burst wide open. The burst or crack puts more pressure on the brain as the oxygen flow is gradually disrupted.
Aneurysms is the condition wherein the fatty deposits of blood clots leads to weak spots or cracks along the walls of the artery. It is also the commonest cause of an abnormality termed as subarachnoid hemorrhage. Aneurysm mainly leads to the filling of blood in the region between the skull and the brain. It is to be noted that high blood pressure may also lead to Aneurysm.

How to prevent stroke?

A healthy lifestyle can very well prevent the occurrence of stroke in most cases. Some of the things that you can do to keep away from stroke are highlighted as follows.
Control the blood pressure and cholesterol levels in your body
Treat and control diabetes with proper medications.
Avoid excessive smoking or drinking, especially when you are ill or suffering from any ailment.
Check out for any atrial fibrillation.
Most importantly, don’t get tensed or stressed for any reason; stick to a healthy diet. Do regular exercises to get rid of the excess fat in the body. Engaging in physical activities can help prevent the blood clots. You can do simple workouts even while you are watching TV programs using any of the popular cable services such as the FiOS TV.
If you have blood clots in any of your body parts, try taking anti-platelet and anticoagulant drugs to control the clot.

New HQ version of this video can be found here: www.youtube.com Taken from Burt Sugarman’s The Midnight Special show aired March 4th 1977. Ann Wilson had (has) one of the finest voices in rock history (my opinion anyway), and sister Nancy sure could play that guitar…

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