It is a heart disease that affects 1% of the general population and 10% of those over 80: atrial or atrial fibrillation. It is characterized by an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. British and South Korean researchers from the University of Liverpool and the National College of Medicine at Seoul National University looked at the most common risk factors and listed 9 of them. Their results are published in the magazine The Lancet Regional Health Europe.
Sedentary lifestyle, obesity, alcohol: risk factors for atrial fibrillation listed by researchers
To do this, the researchers carried out a meta-analysis of European and global data collected in recent years. In the introduction, they note that while modern anticoagulant treatment has significantly reduced the risk of stroke and venous thromboembolic disease (which is characterized in particular by the presence of a clot in a vein) in people with atrial fibrillation, this disease “always impairs quality of life, increases the risk of stroke andheart failure and is linked to cognitive disorders”.
Atrial fibrillation: these 9 factors increase the risk
Researchers therefore looked at lifestyle, somatic, psychological and socio-economic risk factors. They listed 9 and specified, in certain cases, what should be done to limit this risk:
- Physical inactivity would be a risk factor for the development of the disease, however, “high-intensity interval training improves functional capacity and quality of life in atrial fibrillation”, write the authors.
- Obesity would increase the risk of developing the disease, however, “weight loss reduces recurrence and symptoms of atrial fibrillation”, emphasize the researchers.
- The consumption ofalcohol
- Hypertension would increase the risk by 1.7 to 2.5 according to the researchers. They emphasize that this risk can “be reduced by antihypertensive treatment”.
- Diabetes would be “associated with a 1.28 times higher relative risk of incident atrial fibrillation”, note the authors.
- L’myocardial infarction, whose background “increase the risk of atrial fibrillation from 60 to 77%” can we read in the study.
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) would double the risk according to the study.
- Men are 70% more at risk than women, even if the authors specify that “Lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation is similar.”
- The origin: Westerners are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation than people of South Asian or African origin.
In a statement, Dr Eduard Shantsila of the University of Liverpool, calls for an individualized approach to atrial fibrillation, “taking into account an increasingly broad range of health and patient factors contributing to the health burden of atrial fibrillation.”
Sources:
- Managing risk factors for common heart condition
- Atrial fibrillation: comorbidities, lifestyle, and patient factors – The Lancet Regional Health Europe