Does your heart skip a beat? You could be at a higher risk of a stroke
<p dir="ltr">One in three Australians over the age of 50, or <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27798365/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one in 20 New Zealanders</a> aged 55 or older, will develop Atrial Fibrillation - an irregular or rapid heartbeat which ups their risk of strokes and heart failure.</p>
<p dir="ltr">But many, like marriage celebrant Maryann Bawden, will have no idea until something happens.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“When the doctors asked me to shift over a little on the bed, I realised I was completely paralysed down my left side,” she said.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">In Maryanne’s case, she suffered a stroke and was in intensive care for four days, where staff realised she had Atrial Fibrillation (AF).</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/atrial-fib1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Maryanne Bawden (left) had no idea she had Atrial Fibrillation until after she was hospitalised for a stroke. Image: Supplied</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">“It was a surreal moment. I had no emotions at the time, just a detached curiosity that my body wasn’t functioning properly,” Maryanne said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“It felt very matter of fact, with no correlation between the seriousness and the actual situation.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Professor Ben Freedman, the Deputy Director of Cardiovascular Research at the <a href="https://www.hri.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heart Research Institute</a>, says the number of Australians who will unknowingly suffer from AF is set to increase by 150 percent over the next four decades.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“One in three people aged over 50 will develop AF - the issue is, most people have never heard of it, and that’s problematic because it means they don’t know how to ask their doctor to check for it,” Professor Freedman explains.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Symptoms include an irregular pulse, heart palpitations or a “fluttering” heartbeat, and feeling tired, dizzy or weak.</p>
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<p dir="ltr">“However, people often have no symptoms at all or only experience symptoms some of the time,” he says.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/atrial-fib2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Professor Ben Freedman (centre), and two members of his team - Dr Katrina Giskes (left), and Dr Nicole Lowres (right) - hope to prove that regular ECG screening will decrease morbidity from Atrial Fibrillation. Image: Supplied</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">“People can live suffering these small, silent strokes and they don’t even know they are having them. But while they might not notice them, over time they cause a cognitive decline.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Professor Freedman also heads - and founded - the <a href="https://www.afscreen.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AF-SCREEN International Collaboration</a>, a global group of scientists that includes many of the foremost names in AF research.</p>
<p dir="ltr">One way to catch AF before a person experiences a stroke or heart failure is by using electrocardiograms (ECGs), and Professor Freedman will be looking to prove that more intensive ECG screening will prevent strokes, morbidity, and death.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Over the next five years, Professor Freedman and his team will be measuring AF in Australians over the age of 70 with a handheld device to prove that this screening helps.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“We need to increase awareness of AF, as only 11 percent of people over the age of 65 are being regularly screened for AF by their GP despite it being a very simple test,” he said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Almost everyone who turns 65 should be getting a yearly pulse check. Cost isn’t a factor - anyone can afford a pulse check.”</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Though only a doctor can diagnose you with AF, you can keep an eye on your heart health by regularly checking your pulse and keeping a record of your results.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/Picture12.png" alt="" width="508" height="508" /></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Supplied</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">A resting heart rate ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute, and although a pause or extra beat every now and then is normal, you should speak to your doctor if it is quite irregular.</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Supplied</em></p>
