I was just diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Can weight loss and exercise reverse this condition?
Unfortunately, Jim, the answer is no. Weight loss and exercise can certainly help reduce obesity, hypertension, and sleep apnea, which are often associated with atrial fibrillation, but they are very unlikely to reverse atrial fibrillation itself.
Today about one in four adults ages 40 and older develops atrial fibrillation, and there have been reports of the abnormality in younger people who exercise vigorously. In fact, studies have found that marathon runners have a higher risk of atrial fibrillation. Interestingly, it is also not uncommon for young medical interns to develop transient atrial fibrillation due to high stress and lack of sleep.
During atrial fibrillation, your heart's two small upper chambers (the atria) twitch, or fibrillate, rapidly and chaotically instead of contracting normally. While some people don’t feel this at all, most feel as if their hearts are pounding out of their chests. Whether you feel the palpitations or not, what does occur during atrial fibrillation is that your blood doesn’t circulate efficiently throughout your body and may pool and clot in the atria. If a piece of that clot loosens and travels though the circulatory system, it can block an artery that’s supplying blood to the brain and cause a stroke. About 15 percent of strokes occur in people with atrial fibrillation.
I am sure your doctor has already prescribed a medication such as digoxin, a calcium channel blocker, or a beta-blocker to slow down your heart rate. Often, synchronized electrical cardioversion (an electric shock) may be used to restore normal heart rhythm before drugs are used. Or an atrial pacemaker can be implanted under the skin to help regulate heart rhythm. There are also surgical procedures for atrial fibrillation, but since you’ve just been diagnosed, I would imagine your doctor will try drugs first to lessen your symptoms.
I recently read about a study that’s looking at whether light exercise (riding an exercise bike or walking fast for 45 minutes three or four times a week) improves the quality of life in subjects in their mid-seventies who have atrial fibrillation. Preliminary data seem to show that it does make them feel and function better. In addition, I have heard that there’s research being conducted on whether yoga can help calm the overactive hearts of people with atrial fibrillation. It might.
So while weight loss and exercise (or yoga) probably won’t cure your condition, they can go a long way toward helping you avoid other heart problems — and a stroke.
Learn more in the Everyday Health Heart Health Center.