Every day is a new day...

Well, it has been almost a week and a half since my wife’s heart procedure. She had a pretty intensive ablation as she has a rapid heart rate and atrial fibrillation. She had the same procedure about 3.5 years ago which was unsuccessful, but things got progressively worse and we were booked for another ablation.

She [...]

Causes of atrial fibrillation

To pump blood, your heart muscles must contract and relax in a coordinated rhythm. Contraction and relaxation are controlled by electrical signals that travel through your heart muscle.

Your heart consists of four chambers — two upper chambers (atria) and two lower chambers (ventricles). Within the upper right chamber of your heart (right atrium) is a [...]

What is atrial fibrillation (AF)?

Atrial fibrillation is a disorder that is fairly common and found in about 2.2 million Americans and roughly 250,000 Canadians. During atrial fibrillation, the heart’s two small upper chambers, known as the atria, quiver like a bag of worms instead of beating as it normally should. Subsequently, blood isn’t pumped completely out of the atria and may pool and clot. If a piece of a blood clot in the atria is pumped out of the heart and becomes lodged in an artery in the brain, the result is a stroke. About 15 percent of strokes occur in people with atrial [...]