An unhealthy lifestyle is the primary reason people experience stroke. However, a stroke can sometimes be a by-product of other abnormalities or diseases such as atrial fibrillation (AF).
AF is cardiac arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm caused by the irregular functioning of the upper chamber of the heart called atria. If you have rapid heart rate, exercise intolerance, and experience palpitations, fainting spells, chest pains, and shortness of breath; or if you have a heart disease, hyperthyroidism, and sleep apnea; or is exposed to alcohol and binge drinking and lots of medications, there is a great chance that you have AF.
Although not life threatening, having AF can expose your chances of having a stroke by up to 7 times to that of the general population. Atrial fibrillation affects 2.3 million adults belonging to the 65-year-old bracket in the U.S. alone. It is more common to men than women and to whites than blacks.
Again, being a by-product, the risk of stroke is not from the fibrillation itself but from the clotting in the atria. Due to abnormal electrical activity, the atria vibrates instead of pumping blood. The blood then remains in the atria, becomes sluggish and becomes prone to clotting. Once clotted, that's when chances of having a stroke occurs.
Atrial fibrillation is treated in two ways. First, by normalizing the heart rate or rhythm through resetting it using medical procedures like cardioversion and medications like Sotalol. Management of atrial fibrillation in this manner is necessary to avoid circulatory instability. Usually, patients are given medications first to test the body's susceptibility to it before a cardioversion is undertaken. Medical devices, as a last resort, are also surgically implanted to the patient if the heart rate is still unaffected by medications and cardioversion.
Second, patients with atrial fibrillation are treated by preventing blood clots through the intake of anticoagulant medications. Effective treatment of blood clotting through medication cuts the risk of stroke by more than half for people with atrial fibrillation. Warfarin and Aspirin are often used as anticoagulants but the former is 50%-70% more effective in reducing the risk of having a stroke.
To be sure if you have atrial fibrillation, it is best to consult your doctor and get a cardiogram to know whether you really have one as soon as possible. Atrial fibrallation leads to stroke and should be addressed immediately to avoid further complications.
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