Atrial fibrillation is preventable

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Alvaro Alonso

September is atrial fibrillation month, a time to raise awareness about this condition, which causes an irregular and often rapid heart rate.

According to Alvaro Alonso, an associate professor of public health at the University of Minnesota, an irregular heartbeat can lead to stroke, heart failure, and an early death. Atrial fibrillation affects more than 2 million Americans.

Recent research by Alonso, however, has found that the condition is preventable by, among other things, improving diet and increasing exercise.

Key finding

“Our main finding was that avoiding cardiovascular risk factors like hypertension, obesity, diabetes, etc., we might be able to prevent between 50 and 60 percent of the atrial fibrillation cases occurring in the population,” Alonso said.

“Our recommendation to the public is to follow the existing guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases that focus on having a healthy diet, having an appropriate weight, [and] having an active lifestyle. Those recommendations that are applicable to other heart diseases might also be applicable to atrial fiblliration.”

Results back theory

Although the results were not surprising, Alonso said that this was the first time a large study was undertaken to show this relationship between an irregular heartbeat and cardiovascular risk factors.

“In the last few years there has been an increased interest in showing that atrial fibrillation is actually preventable,” Alonso said. “And our study puts numbers to those [theories].”