Trudie Lobban MBE
Founder and CEO, Arrhythmia Alliance
We need to focus on preventing atrial fibrillation (AF) as well as detecting it with a simple pulse check to protect against AF-related stroke.
AF is the most common type of arrhythmia (heart rhythm disorder) and is associated with an increased risk of stroke. Without anti-coagulation therapy, a person with AF may be five times more likely to have an ischaemic stroke than someone without AF.
AF-related strokes are more likely to be fatal and disabling than strokes related to other causes. Therefore, the AF Association has long advocated the need to detect AF with a simple manual pulse check to protect against AF-related stroke with anti-coagulation (not aspirin).
Additionally, it raises awareness of the need to correct the irregular rhythm with access to appropriate treatments and to perfect the patient care pathway. However, in the new AF White Paper, launched by the AF Association, it also acknowledges the need to prevent AF from developing in the first place.
While some risk factors for AF, such as older age, are non-modifiable, some risk factors are modifiable – including obesity, smoking, excess alcohol intake and high blood pressure (hypertension). Therefore, by focusing on these modifiable risk factors, we can prevent AF or rather reduce the risk of it developing.
Everyone should get into the habit of knowing your pulse, as getting to know your heart rhythm “could save your life”. An irregular rhythm may be a sign of AF.
On the right track
Existing public health campaigns and strategies to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as obesity, can help to prevent AF. For example, the NHS Health Check programme is designed to identify and address the early signs of heart disease (and other conditions) in adults aged between 40 and 74 via check-ups every five years.
If a person is identified as having high blood pressure via a check-up, they could be given medication or lifestyle advice to help reduce their blood pressure and, as a result, reduce their risk of developing AF.
Providing support in prevention
In fact, any medical contact — whether this is at the primary, secondary, or tertiary care level — is an opportunity to provide guidance, information and support on leading a healthy lifestyle and risk factor management to optimise lifelong cardiovascular health and, thus, prevents AF.
Everyone should get into the habit of knowing your pulse, as getting to know your heart rhythm “could save your life”. An irregular rhythm may be a sign of AF.
The AF Association’s new AF White Paper, Put People First, calls for people with, or at risk of developing, atrial fibrillation (AF) to be at the centre of decision-making. This should be in the context of the charity’s Prevent, Detect, Protect, Correct, and Perfect strategy:
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