Atrial fibrillation How to protect your heart

Heart experts clarify the prevention of atrial fibrillation

When the heart suddenly starts to beat, that one feels the blows in the neck, when the pressure on the chest is so great that one can hardly breathe, when sudden dizziness occurs and feelings of anxiety spread, it can be one Attack of atrial fibrillation. Such flicker attacks are dangerous and often leave those affected very unsure. What can you do yourself to protect yourself from these attacks or to drastically reduce the incidence? Heart experts clarify.

The German Heart Foundation recently published the free guide "heart out of tact: atrial fibrillation". In the guidebook, heart experts report on the dangers of cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation, which therapies are best suited and what everyone can do for prevention. Here are some important aspects!

Heart experts from the German Heart Foundation clarify on atrial fibrillation and provide information on how best to protect against it. (Image: psdesign1 / fotolia.com)

Recognize seizures

As the experts of the German Heart Foundation report, the first attack of atrial fibrillation often occurs in light activities such as climbing stairs. This can lead to violent and irregular tachycardia, in which the pulse rises to up to 160 beats per minute. The heart beats throb so intense that they are perceived in the throat. This is often accompanied by a feeling of pressure in the chest, which is accompanied by respiratory distress. In addition, in many cases, a feeling of weakness sets in. However, not every atrial fibrillation is so clearly recognizable, the experts warn. In many cases, the cardiac arrhythmia remains undetected.

How to protect yourself from atrial fibrillation?

"For patients with atrial fibrillation, sports and weight loss are crucial to dramatically reduce their risk of atrial fibrillation," says heart specialist Professor Dr. med. med. Bernd Nowak from the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Heart Foundation in a press release. Sports and endurance exercise are as crucial for patients with atrial fibrillation to improve their heart condition as they are for patients with other heart conditions such as heart failure, coronary heart disease and high blood pressure.

Do not exaggerate

"However, the training dose should always be determined with the doctor," advises Professor Nowak. If atrial fibrillation patients already take performance-reducing drugs such as beta-blockers or rhythm medications, first the resilience must be determined by a medical test.

These sports are suitable for heart protection

Nowak recommends a low to moderate dose of endurance training for patients with atrial fibrillation, such as walking, jogging, walking, cycling, ergometer training, or dancing 20-30 minutes three to five times a week. In addition, According to Nowak low-dose strength training should be part of the training. "Elderly people, who are particularly affected by atrial fibrillation, risk fewer falls with strength training and can cope better in everyday life," said the cardiologist.

Sport and weight reduction work better than medicine

If you increase your load capacity by more than 50 watts, you reduce the risk of a seizure by more than a third. This increase would correspond approximately to the stress that occurs during a faster walking compared to the normal gait. Those who also lose ten percent of their body weight increase their load capacity by more than 50 percent. Thus, the risk of new atrial fibrillation can be reduced by three quarters. "The effect is as great as it can hardly be achieved with medication," says cardiologist Nowak.

From these sports you should better distance

When there is an atrial fibrillation during exercise, symptoms such as shortness of breath or a fainting sensation can suddenly occur. For this reason, advises Professor Nowak from swimming in the sea and other waters as well as from climbing or challenging mountain hiking. Care should also be taken with injury-intensive sports such as mountain biking, snowboarding, alpine skiing or martial arts, especially if patients take anticoagulants such as Marcumar, Falithrom, Eliquis, Lixiana, Pradaxa or Xarelto.

Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke

"Stroke is the greatest risk that comes from atrial fibrillation," adds heart specialist Dr. med. med. Gerian Grönefeld in a press release. In 20 to 30 percent of all strokes, atrial fibrillation is the trigger. Here is the best protection to recognize the underlying diseases and to treat consistently, because unrecognized, untreated and without the protective effect of anticoagulant drugs are affected with atrial fibrillation unprotected stroke.

Risk factors for atrial fibrillation

Heart failure, renal insufficiency, sleep apnea (respiratory failure while sleeping) and high blood pressure can promote atrial fibrillation. According to Grönefeld, a third of all patients with hypertension also have atrial fibrillation. "Patients with high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation are burdened twice: Firstly, the high blood pressure due to the vascular burden itself increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, on the other hand there is a risk of the atrial fibrillation that clots form, which in turn can trigger a stroke," explains Grönfeld.

Control underlying diseases to prevent atrial fibrillation

High-pressure patients should therefore take special care to keep their illness under control by being well-adjusted with medication, checking their pulse regularly with blood pressure monitors and being regularly checked by a specialist. According to Grönefeld, other high-risk patients for atrial fibrillation are people suffering from valvular heart disease, diabetes or coronary heart disease. These should also pay attention to the occurrence of an irregular pulse. (Vb)