In a new study from the University of British Columbia, researchers urge people to learn and then heed the symptoms of atrial fibrillation (AF). Especially women.
AF is the most commonly diagnosed arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) in the world. Despite that, many people do not understand the pre-diagnosis symptoms and tend to ignore them.
In the study, the team found 77% of the women participants had experienced symptoms for more than a year before receiving a diagnosis.
Many patients have AF symptoms that included, but were not limited to, shortness of breath, feeling of butterflies (fluttering) in the chest, dizziness or general fatigue.
Many women also experienced gastrointestinal distress or diarrhea. When diagnosed they admitted complete surprise—even though they had been experiencing the symptoms for a considerable time.
Previous research showed that one in four strokes are AF related. However, when people with AF suffer a stroke, their outcomes are generally worse than people who have suffered a stroke for other reasons.
The team many women had more significant severity and frequency of their symptoms than men—yet they experience the longest amount of time between onset of symptoms and diagnosis.
What really troubles the team are the reasons a diagnosis is delayed in women.
Many doubted their symptoms were serious. They discounted them because they were tired, stressed, thought they related to other existing medical conditions, or even something they had eaten.
Most women also had caregiving responsibilities that took precedence over their own health, and they chose to self-manage their symptoms by sitting, lying down, or breathing deeply until they stopped.
What’s more alarming, however, is that if women mentioned their symptoms to their family doctor, many said they simply felt dismissed.
The team says women generally wait longer than men for diagnosis with many ailments. Sadly, with AF and other critical illnesses, the longer a person waits, the shorter time there is to receive treatments. Statistically, women end up with a worse quality of life.
The team would like people to be as knowledgeable about AF as they are about the symptoms and risks of stroke and heart attacks.
As the population is living longer, the number of people with AF continues to increase. In fact, about 15% of people over the age of 80 will be diagnosed with the condition.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about common gout drug may help treat heart disease and findings of a better way to predict heart attacks.
For more information about heart disease prevention and treatment, please see recent studies about is physical activity always good for your heart? and results showing that this number could predict heart disease in people with diabetes.
The study is published in the Western Journal of Nursing Research. One author of the study is Dr. Ryan Wilson.
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