Anti Aging

Atrial fibrillation describes an irregular and often rapid heart rhythm. The irregular rhythm, or arrhythmia, results from abnormal electrical impulses in the heart. The irregularity can be continuous, or it can arrive and go. Normal heart contractions begin as an electrical impulse in the right atrium. This impulse comes from an area of the atrium called the sinoatrial (SA) or sinus node, the “natural pacemaker.”

Atrial fibrillation is increasingly common with advancing age. During atrial fibrillation, the heart’s two upper lawyer’s quarters (the atria) beat chaotically and irregularly — out of coordination by the two lower chambers (the ventricles) of the heart. The result is an irregular and often rapid heart compute that causes poor blood flow to the body and symptoms of purpose palpitations, shortness of breath and weakness. Most people with atrial fibrillation have an increased risk of developing blood clots that may lead to stroke.

Causes

The heart has four chambers. The upper two chambers are the atria, and the lower pair chambers are the ventricles. Blood returning to the intent from the body in the superior and inferior vena cava contains low levels of oxygen and high levels of carbon dioxide. This blood flows into the right atrium and then into the adjacent right ventricle. After the ventricle fills, contraction of the right atrium pumps additional blood into the perpendicular ventricle. The right ventricle then contracts and pumps the high birth to the lungs to what the blood takes up oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide. The blood then flows from the lungs to the left atrium and into the adjacent left ventricle.

Symptoms

Atrial fibrillation is a type of arrhythmia, in which the two upper chambers of the heart called the atria, quiver instead of conquer effectively. This may result in rapid and irregular impulses in the atrium — as fast viewed like 300 per minute — which typically causes a faster than normal and irregular ventricular rhythm.

You may be delivered of atrial fibrillation in the absence of having any symptoms at all. If you consider symptoms, they may include:

* Heart palpitations (a sudden pounding, fluttering, or racing feeling in the breast).

* Lack of strength; feeling over-tired.

* Dizziness (delicate sentiment faint or light-headed).

Treatment

Medications are used to slow below the horizon rapid intent rate associated with AF. These treatments may include drugs of the like kind as digoxin, beta blockers (atenolol, metoprolol, propranolol), amiodarone, disopyramide, calcium antagonists (verapamil, diltiazam), sotalol, flecainide, procainamide, quinidine, propafenone, etc. Electrical cardioversion may be used to restore normal heart periodical emphasis with each electric shock, when medication doesn’t improve symptoms.

There are three classes of heart-function drugs that be able to be used lonely, or in combination to reduce the heart rate. They are digitalis drugs, beta blockers drugs and calcium flute blocker drugs. Digitalis drugs such as digoxin (Lanoxin) are used to be augmented the force of heart muscles contractions, making the love work more efficiently. They also wearisome down abnormally rapid nerve impulses as they pass through the atria to the ventricles. This action allows the ventricles time to fill up with blood and empty normally with each contraction. Beta blockers such as atenolol (Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor), or propranolol (Inderal) are used to slow heart rate and reduce the force of shrivelling of the heart muscle.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/anti-aging-articles/atrial-fibrillation-causes-symptoms-treatment-488607.html