New Study Finds Link to Atrial Fibrillation

[BigEd]

New research shows that sleep apnea increases the risk of having heart arrhythmias. Sleep apnea is believed to be linked to atrial fibrillation but until now, we didn’t know if apnea could actually trigger arrhythmias like afib. Here is a link to the story.
http://www.stopafib.org/newsitem.cfm/NEWSID/211/

[Muse-Inc]

Thanks for posting, sent the link to a friend with afib who's debating options.

[raggedykat]

New research shows that sleep apnea increases the risk of having heart arrhythmias

Yeah, I had to have a pacemaker implanted in November 08 because of untreated severe sleep apnea. I am 57. Not one of my doctors in the 20+ years of my complaining about morning dizziness, morning headaches, extreme fatigue and daytime sleepiness ever suggested a sleep study. Finally last year my doctor set me up with one when I told him I couldn't sleep because I would have dreams I was drowning and wake up gasping for air. It was so terrifying that I couldn't go back to sleep. I had my sleep study and they sent me straight to my doctor in the morning who sent me straight to the hospital and I got the pacemaker the next day. My doctor said I was weeks away from dropping dead. I had third stage heart block, not of the arteries but of the electrical system. Third stage is the final stage.

[rested gal]

Thanks so much for the link, Ed!

On this page:
http://www.stopafib.org/what.cfm

This...
"Even more serious is that the blood that remains in the atria can pool and create blood clots, which may get spawned to the rest of the body, causing a stroke. Stroke is not only the number three killer, it is the number one cause of permanent disability."
... is what happened to my father.

He was extremely active, an enthusiastic hiker, very fit. His family doctor had told him his mild atrial fibrillation was no problem. He was never asked about snoring (he snored) or daytime sleepiness (he fell asleep at a traffic light and often fell asleep easily while watching TV or reading a newspaper.)

Looking back on it, I know now that my father had sleep apnea, but the massive stroke that hit him happened the year before I had become aware of sleep apnea and had begun treating myself with CPAP.

He lingered for three years, left side completely paralyzed, and with almost all the "reason" and "judgment" areas of his brain wiped out. His biggest pleasure those last three years was chiming in whenever you'd start a nursery rhyme or childhood song for him.

I meant it when I wrote about what I thought should be routine:
1. EVERY cardiologist routinely orders a sleep study or some kind of sleep apnea screening for EVERY one of their patients.
viewtopic.php?p=346886#p346886

"In a cavern in a canyon, excavating for a mine.... "