Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is an uncoordinated condition of electrical and mechanical activity atrium [1].
It often causes uncoordinated contraction of the top two chambers of the heart and fast heart rhythm, which can cause blood clots and, consequently, AFib-related stroke1 and other potentially devastating complications.
Worryingly, some people with AFib will not know they have it nor display any symptoms, so will often go undiagnosed until they experience life-threatening conditions.
Given that those with AFib are five times more likely to experience heart failure, 2.4 times more likely to experience a stroke, and twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease2, it is clear that more needs to be done to ensure the detection and diagnosis, the treatment and burden of AFib.
ECG is a medical technology tool that is used in reading the electrical activity of the heart. Knowing the electrical activity of the heart is very important in knowing the condition of the heart because the heart is the most important part of the body where the heart is a part of the body that functions for human life.
A progressive increase every year is seen in the prevalence of AF cases which is considered quite high [1]. AF becomes one of the important things to consider related to the detection of heart disease because the effect that can result from AF is to increase the likelihood of stroke and be able to bring death [2].
One way to find out AF is by knowing the peak of high amplitude Heartbeat (R Peak) in the ECG pattern. In processing information R peak from ECG, there are many methods to process them including Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN).
A Comparative Study of Supervised Learning Techniques for Human Activity Monitoring Using Smart Sensors and in the research it was obtained that the RNN accuracy comparison results were better than the other methods tested namely 97.55 %, while accuracy on the BPNN of 94.7%, Probabilistic Neural Network of 94.1%, and Support Vector Machine of 59.11% [4].
Certain triggers can result in an AFib episode. When an episode happens, the heart rate could range from 100-175 beats a min. While a normal heart rate is 60-100 beats a min.
But, once you figure out the triggers, you will be more than capable of keeping your condition under control.
According to the National Institutes of Health, stress and psychological burdens are a red flag for AFib.
They can:
A typical problem is a stress at work. Clinical reports show that job-related stress can increase the possibility of an AFib episode by a staggering 50%.
Whenever the system isn’t functioning at 100%, you are very likely to experience an AFib episode. In the case of insomnia, disease, or bacteria, the heart rate tends to fluctuate and put stress on the heart.
Studies show that the longer people are exposed to pollutants, the higher their chance of visiting the hospital for an AFib emergency. Experts believe these triggers can:
Many people ask what can trigger atrial fibrillation, but very few actually pay attention to their alcohol intake. It’s true that not a lot of people consider alcohol to be a trigger.
Anything from wine to beer can be a serious issue for patients with this condition.
These beverages can affect the vagal tone, which is the function of the vagus nerve. The alcohol can increase vagal activity and result in an AFib episode.
Excessive workouts can put a lot of strain on your cardiovascular health. Patients with this condition can still exercise, but whatever they pick has to be easy on the heart.
Anything that is too vigorous is not a good idea, like high-impact exercises, heavy lifting, long-distance hiking, and running.
It seems that there is little understanding of just how quickly AFib can take hold. Typically a progressive disease, 1 in 5 patients progress from paroxysmal (intermittent) AFib to persistent (constant) AFib in just one year.
Affecting one in four of us over 40 years old, improve the ability to early suspect, and diagnose Atrial Fibrillation Symptoms is key to better access to treatment options.
In most cases, the heart palpitations go away on their own. But they can also be more severe and a sign of a more serious underlying health issue that requires medical assistance. If dizziness, fainting, excessive sweating, chest tightness, and shortness of breath accompany the heart palpitations, seek immediate medical assistance.
[1] Rahman F and Benjamin E J 2015 Classification and Epidemiology of Atrial Fibrilation Atrial Fibrillation: A Multidiciplinary Approach to Improving Patient Outcomes Estes M and Waldo A L Eds (Minnepolis Minnesota USA: Cardiotext Publishing) vol 4 ch 1
[2] Crandall M A et al 2009 Atrial Fibrillation Significantly Increases Total Mortality and Stroke Risk Beyond that Conveyed by the CHADS2 Risk Factors Pacing Clin. Electrophysiol. 32 (8) pp 981– 986
[3] Ruffini G, Ibanez D, Castellano M, Dunne S and Soria-Frisch A 2016 EEG-driven RNN Classification for Prognosis of Neurodegeneration in At-Risk Patients Int. Conf. Artif. Neural Networks 1 pp 314–321
[4] Bhattacharjee S, Kishore S and Swetapadma A 2018 A Comparative Study of Supervised Learning Techniques for Human Activity Monitoring Using Smart Sensors” Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. Adv. Electron. Comput. Commun. ICAECC pp 1–4
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