Atrial fibrillation (A-fib), a disease-causing irregular heartbeats, is now disrupting the rhythm of young hearts' beats. This scary truth has come to light in the research of Pittsburgh University. Generally, this disease was considered more dangerous only for the elderly above 65, but Pittsburgh Uni. Aditya Bhonsle, a doctor at the Medical Center, has claimed based on his research that this disease is more dangerous for people below 65 years of age, especially the youth.

Electrophysiologist Dr. Bhonsle and his team have made this claim in research based on data from more than 67,000 patients suffering from A-Fib. In this research, 25 percent of the patients were below 65 years of age.

According to research published this week in the Medical Life Sciences Journal, the risk of death in these patients was found to be much higher than that of normal people. Problems like high blood pressure, obesity, and sleep apnea increase the risk of A-fib and make heart problems worse.

A-fib means a heartbeat that is sometimes too fast or too slow
A-fib is a condition in which there is no ideal coordination between the upper and lower chambers of the heart. Due to this, the heartbeat sometimes becomes very slow and sometimes very fast. This irregularity of heartbeats causes panic and fainting. Dr. Jeffrey Barnes, a cardiologist at Michigan Health University, said that he has often seen such patients who say that their hearts are beating rapidly, or sometimes the heartbeats are missing.
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Why are irregular heartbeats dangerous?
Dr. Bhonsle says that A-fib can cause blood clots to form in the heart, which can travel to the brain and cause stroke. This reduces the ability to think and understand and can lead to Alzheimer's problems. The risk of heart attack also increases. Research has revealed that A-fib sufferers under the age of 65 have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart attack than those without A-fib.

Alcohol and cigarettes are also responsible
According to Dr. Bhonsle, youth already suffering from heart disease or diabetes are falling prey to it. One in five A-Fib sufferers included in the study was also found to suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. This is the highest risk factor because people with sleep apnea stop breathing at night.

Dr. Bradley Knight, medical director at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, says that in addition to alcohol and cigarette consumption, excessive exercise also increases the risk of A-Fib.

Treatment
A person with sleep apnea is given a CPAP machine. Avoid alcohol and smoking. In some people this problem may also be congenital. For them, the procedure of catheter ablation is used. In this, the doctor removes the tissue from the heart due to which the heartbeats are irregular.

Smartwatch is proving effective
Professor of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Hugh Calkins says that A-fib can be diagnosed by measuring heartbeats with an electrocardiogram. But, now smart watches are doing this work very well. Many people may not even know they have symptoms of A-Fib. But, his smartwatch gave him indications about this.

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