The heart has an electrical system that controls the rate and rhythm of your heartbeat. In a healthy heart, the electrical signals produce a steady rhythm and the muscle contracts to pump blood from the top to the bottom of the heart and then around the body. But sometimes the signals become confused and disorganised, and the regular rhythm is disrupted. The medical term for this is arrhythmia.
Most arrhythmias fall into one of two main categories:
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is a type of tachycardia and is the most common type of arrhythmia.
AFib occurs when the electrical signals being sent from the sinoatrial (SA) node (the heart's natural pacemaker) to the right atrium and the left atrium get disrupted by random signals. This overload of signals causes these top two chambers to beat too quickly and lose their rhythm. They start to "quiver" rather than contract efficiently to pump blood to the ventricles at the bottom of your heart. The medical term for this electrical disturbance and weakened pumping ability is fibrillation.
There are three recognised types of Atrial fibrillation:
The goal of treating AFib is to manage symptoms. Treatment of AFib is dependent on a number of factors including severity of symptoms, underlying cause and any other health conditions.
Symptoms of AFib vary from person to person but most commonly include:
The duration of symptoms also varies – from a few minutes to several days, or even weeks at a time.
Some people with AFib do not experience any symptoms. In ‘silent’ cases like this, AFib might be picked up in a standard health check, when investigating another health issue, or via a wearable device (such as a watch) that has health monitoring functionality.
Symptoms of AFib should not be ignored, please contact your doctor or qualified healthcare provider regarding your condition for diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
If your doctor suspects you may be suffering from an arrhythmia, you will be referred to a cardiologist (heart specialist) or electrophysiologist (specialist in the heart’s electrical system) for consultation and diagnostic tests. Usually, the first tests you undergo will be ECG recordings. If they do not help explain your symptoms, you may need further specialist tests.
Echocardiogram
An ultrasound scan which creates a moving picture of your heart to rule out/identify any structural problems with the heart that might be causing your symptoms.
Scanners
Scanners (MRI/ Magnetic Resonance Imaging or CT/ Computed Tomography) might be used to generate more detailed images of your heart.
Blood tests
They will give more details on heart-related and other health conditions.
These tests will help your doctors understand if you have an arrhythmia, what type it is, what’s causing it and what treatments might be suitable for you.
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