Why are more people under 65 being diagnosed?

atrial fibrillationthe most common type arrhythmiainfluenced An estimated 5.2 million Americans That number increased in 2010 and is expected to rise to 12.1 million by 2030.

In this condition, the heart beats irregularly, sometimes faster than normal, and can cause symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, and dizziness. Your heart may also feel like it's racing, beating too fast, beating too hard, or skipping beats.

If left untreated, AFib can cause heart disease or worsen existing heart disease. There is also an increased risk of complications such as heart failure And a stroke.

“Atrial fibrillation is usually a disease of older people,” he said. Dr. Bradley Knight, medical director of electrophysiology at Northwestern Medicine's Blum Heart and Vascular Institute in Chicago, was not involved in the study. He says, “As people get older, they can develop abnormalities in their atria. [of their heart]May cause atrial fibrillation. ”

Although the risks of atrial fibrillation in older adults are well known, the condition was previously thought to be less common in younger adults.

For example, in 2001 study Researchers found that less than 1% of American adults under age 55 have atrial fibrillation, compared to 9% of those over 80. Similar results have been seen in Europe more recently. study.

UPMC researchers have found in a new study that atrial fibrillation is more common in younger patient populations than seen in previous studies.

To determine this, they examined the medical records of more than 67,000 adults who had at least two outpatient visits to UPMC clinics related to a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation between 2010 and 2019.

The average age of AFib patients was 72 years, but nearly a quarter were younger than 65 years, and the majority of younger patients were male.

The researchers also assessed the risks of hospitalization and death faced by young people with atrial fibrillation.other the study AFib has been shown to increase the risk of early death, but many of those studies focused on older adults.

Researchers looked at 10-year survival rates in young patients and found that men with atrial fibrillation were 1.3 to 1.5 times more likely to die than men of a similar age without atrial fibrillation. discovered.

The risk of death for young women with AFib was 1.7 to 2.4 times worse than for young women without the disease.

Many people in this young age group had risk factors such as: cardiovascular diseaseobesity, smoking etc. high blood pressurediabetes, obstructive sleep apnea.

Over time, these conditions can cause physical damage and electrical changes in the heart, leading to atrial fibrillation.

Dr. Jim LiuCardiologists at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, who were not involved in the study, said the study found that, among other things, “atrial fibrillation is more prevalent in younger adults, and that atrial fibrillation is a more serious condition. He said the findings highlight the “serious nature” of atrial fibrillation in young patients. It's not just about isolating older patients. ”

So is atrial fibrillation really becoming more common in people under 65, or are doctors getting better at detecting the condition?

It might be a little bit of both.

“We're probably doing a better job of detecting atrial fibrillation,” Liu told Healthline. For example, “So many people now own personal wearable devices. smart watch Other monitors that can detect AFib. ”

“However, risk factors for atrial fibrillation, such as obesity, sleep apnea, diabetes, and high blood pressure, are also increasing in younger patients.”

Other risk factors for AFib include: large amount of alcohol and viral infections New coronavirus infection, etc..

Many of these can be changed to reduce your risk of developing AFib.

“It's important to address the risk factors for atrial fibrillation,” Liu says. “This means that you will get a condition like [high blood pressure], sleep apnea, and diabetes are under control. It also means losing weight if someone is overweight. ”

Clinical guidelines recommend regular screening for atrial fibrillation in all patients, despite new research suggesting it may be more common in younger people than previously known No, Dr. Knight said.

“[Screening] patients with risk factors, especially older patients and heart disease; [high blood pressure]”But I don't know if we need to test it in very young patients,” he said. [who don’t have symptoms]”

but, “[AFib] “Screening tests are becoming more frequent thanks to these wearable devices that are available without a prescription,” he said.

Knight believes this type of device could help manage patients who have already been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. For example, someone who thinks they may have symptoms of atrial fibrillation can use a wearable device to record their heart rhythm and send the recording to their doctor for review.

You can also record your rhythm once a week to see if your heart remains within its normal rhythm after heart-related procedures or changes in medications.

“These are very valuable tools, but they also have the problem of false positives,” Knight said. “Many young, healthy people are told by the device that they have atrial fibrillation,” but a doctor's follow-up may find it to be a false positive.

He recommends the following for people with heart-related symptoms: palpitations Tell your doctor or other health care professional if you have a fast, pounding, pounding heart, chest pain, or sudden shortness of breath.

“One of the tests may be to wear a heart monitor for an extended period of time to detect possible atrial fibrillation,” Knight said.

Researchers examined the medical records of more than 67,000 people with AFib. Almost a quarter of these patients were younger than 65 years.

AFib was previously thought to affect people over the age of 65, and the prevalence increased with age. However, this study suggests that the condition also affects young people.

Many of the young AF patients in this study had risk factors for AF, such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnea.