DANVILLE, Pa. — Atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib, is an irregular heart rate that usually causes poor blood flow.
"It leads to a fast, irregular heart rate that can feel very uncomfortable, can take people's breath away, make them feel like they don't have the energy they used to have," said Dr. Dominik Beer, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Geisinger.
Dr. Beer says that if we live long enough, we will all eventually develop AFib, but how early we develop it depends on certain risk factors.
"High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, also tobacco use, but also alcohol consumption and poor sleep lead to an earlier development of this disorder."
Alcohol consumption tends to increase over the holiday season, and according to Dr. Beer, alcohol can cause AFib episodes over the holidays. Doctors refer to this as "holiday heart syndrome."
"Alcohol can increase the number of these extra beats we can get and also makes the heart acutely more vulnerable to triggering atrial fibrillation."
Atrial fibrillation can lead to stroke and can also make the heart beat extremely fast.
"That rapid conduction of the atrial fibrillation to the pumping chamber of the heart can actually over time lead to weakening of the heart muscle as well."
Dr. Beer says if someone has a history of or has risk factors for AFib, they should think twice about how much and how often they consume alcohol this holiday season.
More information on cardiac health is available from the Geisinger Heart Institute.
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