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January 12th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) — Many people may not feel
their heart race when they are having an irregular heartbeat known as
atrial fibrillation, but these silent symptoms double their risk of
stroke, a new study finds.
Of 2,580 study participants with pacemakers who did not have a history
of atrial fibrillation, more than one-third experienced
pacemaker-documented episodes that lasted for more than six minutes,
researchers said. However, 85 percent of these people did not realize it
because there were no obvious symptoms. Pacemakers are placed in the chest
to control abnormal heart rhythms. The results appear in the Jan. 12 issue
of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The findings don’t mean that everyone should be tested or treated for
silent atrial fibrillation (AF), but they do argue for awareness and
tighter control of known stroke risk factors such as high blood
pressure.
“In patients with pacemakers, we do see a very high prevalence of
silent AF that is not recognized by the patient,” said study author Dr.
Jeff Healey, an associate professor of medicine of the Michael G. DeGroote
School of Medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. “Even though
they are silent, these episodes are clearly associated with risk of
stroke.”
Individuals who had one silent atrial fibrillation episode within the
first three months of the study were twice as likely to have a stroke,
when compared to their counterparts who did not experience any bouts, the
study showed. An episode of atrial fibrillation was defined as an
irregular heartbeat that lasted at least six minutes.
This risk increased with each additional risk for stroke such as high
blood pressure and diabetes, Healey said. All participants were 65 or
older and had a history of high blood pressure. Researchers followed the
patients for about 2.5 years.
“We know that high blood pressure is a very important risk factor for
stroke, and this study reinforces the importance of good primary care to
pick up these risk factors,” he said. “Further research will tell us if it
makes sense to screen for silent AF in certain high-risk populations.”
Another expert said common sense should prevail.
“We should not check everyone for silent AF,” said Dr. Marc Gillinov,
a heart surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. “If you feel palpitations or your
heart racing, let your doctor know, but otherwise I would not rush to the
doctor. The cause of the stroke is unknown in about 25 percent of people,
and a lot of us think maybe subclinical AF plays a role. This study helps
answer that piece of the puzzle.”
Many questions remain, he said. “The big question is how much AF is too
much because the drugs used to treat AF are very powerful and have their
own issues with safety,” he says. “Does one six-minute episode buy you a
lifetime of anticoagulants, or do you need 10 times that amount?”
Dr. Neil Sanghvi, an electrophysiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New
York City, said the new study was “thought-provoking.” He said people
should discuss their personal risk factors for stroke with their doctor to
come up with a plan. “The average patient who has no symptoms should just
have a conversation with their physician,” he added.
More information
Learn how atrial fibrillation is treated at the U.S. National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
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