How’s your heart doing? Why regular monitoring pays off
Text: Anni Karjala / Image: Erik Lanza
How many times per day do you stop and think about your heart? The chances are, if it’s not causing you any symptoms, very rarely. However, taking just one minute per day to listen to your heart can pay off big time. Here’s why.
Challenge 1: Dangerously asymptomatic
Atrial fibrillation is the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia. It has a nasty feature of often presenting without any symptoms – 40% percent of patients with atrial fibrillation are asymptomatic. Furthermore, atrial fibrillation is often intermittent, meaning it may come and go without you knowing (1,2).
Even as asymptomatic, atrial fibrillation increases the risk for stroke, heart failure and even death when left untreated (2). The good news is that with efficient and timely treatment, this risk can be significantly lowered. A crucial step needed for correct treatment to take place is the detection and documentation of atrial fibrillation.
Challenge 2: Elusive in nature
The traditional gold-standard for detecting atrial fibrillation is an ECG recording at a medical facility. However, given the nature of atrial fibrillation, this approach is often problematic for two reasons.
First, traditional ECG only measures the rhythm of your heart for one short instant - and may miss the majority of atrial fibrillation events. Second, ECG has commonly been recorded only at a healthcare facility, meaning the measurement is always somewhat lagged – atrial fibrillation episode may pass well before you get to the healthcare facility. This can lead to a majority of atrial fibrillation cases going undiagnosed and only being noticed when a severe complication, such as stroke, takes place.
Considering how atrial fibrillation presents, monitoring your heart every now and then is not enough. Atrial fibrillation can occur at any time and can only last from minutes to hours at shortest. Measuring your heart daily is the only way to stay on top of what’s going on in your chest. And to do it daily, you need routine.
Challenge 3: How to avoid the worst-case scenario
Recent evidence also suggests that the longer atrial fibrillation goes on, the greater risk for it to cause complications (3). Monitoring the heart at least once per day and every time you get symptoms can shorten the time to diagnosis – and reduce the risk for further complications.
There’s a set of known risk factors for atrial fibrillation. Some of these can be modified and reduced, others cannot. The best management for the non-modifiable risk factors is to stay on top of your heart health: monitoring your heart regularly and intervening early if atrial fibrillation is detected.
The solution: Those important 60 seconds
Regular monitoring is the safest bet for recognizing atrial fibrillation. It allows the transition from lagged and reactive measurement approach towards regular and proactive monitoring of your heart. This enables the early recognition and intervention of atrial fibrillation and can lower the risk for severe complications as a result.
Give your heart the attention it needs. Form a healthy habit, stop and listen to your heart every day, even for just one minute. Be rewarded with peace of mind and a healthy heart. It can really save your life.
How it works? Read more about measuring your heart with CardioSignal. It only takes a minute.
References:
1) Lloyd-Jones DM, Wang TJ, Leip EP, et al. Lifetime risk for development of atrial fibrillation: the Framingham Heart Study. Circulation. 2004;110(9):1042-1046. doi:10.1161/01.CIR.0000140263.20897.42
2) Camm AJ, Corbucci G, Padeletti L. Usefulness of continuous electrocardiographic monitoring for atrial fibrillation. Am J Cardiol. 2012;110(2):270-276. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2012.03.021
3) Van Gelder IC, Healey JS, Crijns HJGM, et al. Duration of device-detected subclinical atrial fibrillation and occurrence of stroke in ASSERT. Eur Heart J. 2017;38(17):1339-1344. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehx042
