Do You Know Your Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Facts?

A healthy heart has a steady and regular beat like a clock. To make your heart beat, an electrical signal travels from the top of your heart to the bottom. That makes the heart squeeze and pump blood.

A glitch in this electrical system can cause atrial fibrillation (AFib), one of the most common types of abnormal heart rhythm.

If you have AFib, the two upper chambers of your heart, called the atria, don’t beat normally or regularly. Instead, they beat too fast and quiver like a bowl of gelatin.  

Your heart may race when you're under pressure or beat faster when you work out, but that's normal. Damage to your heart's electrical system -- not how you feel or what you do -- causes AFib.

Heart disease and high blood pressure are among the common reasons why people have it. Inflammation may also play a role. Sometimes, doctors don’t know why someone has AFib.

Your heart is a marvelous muscle. It pumps blood to the rest of your body 60 to 100 times a minute. That's a normal resting heartbeat. AFib may make your heart go a lot faster: anywhere from 100 to 175 beats per minute.

You can't always tell if there's a problem with the way your heart beats. Many people don't have symptoms. But common signs of AFib include a fluttering in your chest, a feeling like your heart is beating too fast or hard, dizziness, chest pain, and tiring easily while exercising.

Your risk of AFib goes up as you get older. That’s especially true if you're over 60.  As you age, your risk for heart disease and other health problems that can cause AFib increases. Family history can also play a role. Up to a third of people with AFib have a relative with it.

Someone with AFib is almost 5 times more likely to have a stroke. Their heart doesn't pump blood around the body the way it should. Sometimes, blood pools in the upper chambers of the heart and forms clots. If a clot goes to the brain, it can cause a stroke. Clots that travel to other parts of the body can also cause problems. Treatment can help lower the risk some.

It's simple and painless and is the most useful test to find AFib. An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) records how fast your heart beats and if it beats in a normal way. It only tests your heartbeat for a few seconds, though. Your doctor may ask you to wear a device to monitor your heartbeat for longer.

Some people get AFib after heart surgery or a heart attack. Other health problems -- too much thyroid hormone in your body, diabetes, and lung disease -- also put you at risk.  And binge drinking can wreak havoc on your heart, sending you into AFib.

It may sound shocking, but this can get your heart back to a normal rhythm. The procedure is called electrical cardioversion. It uses a small, quick pulse of electrical current to help your heart beat normally. Your doctor will give you medicine to make you sleepy while he resets your heart rhythm.

Some people’s AFib can be controlled with just medicine. Others can benefit from procedures that destroy tissue that may cause unusual rhythms. Other procedures create scars in the heart for electrical current to follow to keep it in rhythm. Only sometimes will your doctor decide you need a pacemaker.

People with sleep apnea stop breathing when they're slumbering. This dangerous condition can cause AFib. Your doctor may order a sleep study if you have AFib, you snore, and you're overweight.