Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Atrial Fibrillation
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests
|
Atrial Fibrillation
by CGTMHI, Jan 15, 2004 12:00AM
, Jan 15, 2004 12:00AM
I'm 70 and in otherwise perfect health. I have NO clogged "pipes" or any of those common heart problems at all.
I began having A-fib's in about 1995. I fought with this until I got into research at Mpls. VA, on Azimilide. After that, I did very well and only had A-fib ever two or three months, for about 24 to 36 hours and converted on my own.
Now, azimilide has been pulled and I'm back in A-fib for the last 60 hours and still going. I'll be going back to the VA soon to the heart clinic there, as research is over for me now.
To me, the answer to A-fib has got to be through electronics and bio-chemistry and bio-physics. It would be a drug-free system and none of drug side effects. In this age of ultra-electronics, It's hard to believe that Medtronic or someone can't come up with a device that would muddle, scatter, or just do away with the out of control electricity that causes A-fib.
There has been millions spent on things ike AIDS, but token amounts on A-fib, which affects millions of otherwise healthy people, trying to live a normal life. It's as though it's viewed as a minor nuisance and not an big problem at all. It's been with mankind forever, and right now I know quite a few people with this problem right here in our community. My own grandmother died in '44 at 68 from the same thing, and no one realized the strain and pain she endured, trying to keep up her work here on this very farm I'm on today.
Any suggestions will be most appreciated.
I began having A-fib's in about 1995. I fought with this until I got into research at Mpls. VA, on Azimilide. After that, I did very well and only had A-fib ever two or three months, for about 24 to 36 hours and converted on my own.
Now, azimilide has been pulled and I'm back in A-fib for the last 60 hours and still going. I'll be going back to the VA soon to the heart clinic there, as research is over for me now.
To me, the answer to A-fib has got to be through electronics and bio-chemistry and bio-physics. It would be a drug-free system and none of drug side effects. In this age of ultra-electronics, It's hard to believe that Medtronic or someone can't come up with a device that would muddle, scatter, or just do away with the out of control electricity that causes A-fib.
There has been millions spent on things ike AIDS, but token amounts on A-fib, which affects millions of otherwise healthy people, trying to live a normal life. It's as though it's viewed as a minor nuisance and not an big problem at all. It's been with mankind forever, and right now I know quite a few people with this problem right here in our community. My own grandmother died in '44 at 68 from the same thing, and no one realized the strain and pain she endured, trying to keep up her work here on this very farm I'm on today.
Any suggestions will be most appreciated.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-M.D.-RCJ, Jan 15, 2004 12:00AM
cindy,
Thanks for the post, and welcome.
First, the actual dollars amount spent on Afib research is hard to quantify, but it clearly outstrips the amount spent on AIDS. In fact, it's not even a contest.
Second, modern medicine now does offer non-pharmacologic therapy for Afib. At the CCF, and several other centers in the US, catheter based ablation therapy is routinely being offered to patients with afib that meet certain criteria (which differ based on the site offering the therapy). Check out our website for more info: http://atrialfibrillation.org/
The Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore may be closer to you than CCF, and is a fine center for afib ablation.
Good luck.
Thanks for the post, and welcome.
First, the actual dollars amount spent on Afib research is hard to quantify, but it clearly outstrips the amount spent on AIDS. In fact, it's not even a contest.
Second, modern medicine now does offer non-pharmacologic therapy for Afib. At the CCF, and several other centers in the US, catheter based ablation therapy is routinely being offered to patients with afib that meet certain criteria (which differ based on the site offering the therapy). Check out our website for more info: http://atrialfibrillation.org/
The Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore may be closer to you than CCF, and is a fine center for afib ablation.
Good luck.
Expert Activity
Related Expert Forums
Related Communities
Chest Pain
Crohns
Digestive Process
Dry Skin
Heart Attack
Stomach Ach
angina
atrium
blood
bowel
cardiologist
changes
colon
crohns disease
diarrhea
fatigue
high blood pressure
hypertension
irritable
irritable bowel
low blood pressure
medication
mitral
mvp
pains
pressure
redness
stomach ache
tachycardia
ulcerative
Communities
Ask a Doctor Forums
Tools and Applications
Personal Information
Medical Information
Doctors and Partners
Joyce
I am scheduled for one in two weeks. My cardiac surgeon says this is the way to go. He says it has 70-90% success rate, tho they've only been done the last year. The risk of clots/stroke is "almost zero" cuz the procedure involves "burning" around the pulmonary vessels and hot spots on the OUTSIDE of the heart. (Instruments and 'scope inserted thru incisions between ribs on chest wall.)
Any comments?