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Stroke prevention guidelines and management.
Is atrial fibrillation harmless? Can it cause a stroke?
CAN ATRIAL FIBRILLATION KILL YOU? WHAT YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT HEART ARRHYTHMIA STROKE PREVENTION.
The most serious risks emanating from Afib are:
STROKE
HEART FAILURE
CHRONIC FATIGUE
ADDITIONAL HEART RHYTHM PROBLEMS
INCONSISTENT BLOOD SUPPLY
But the main and most serious problem is the risk of stroke.
In short, a stroke is a brain attack and happens when the blood supply to a part of your brain is cut off, according to STROKE.ORG.
This can happen if you have afib because the upper chambers of your heart (atria) do not contract properly, they only quiver. Without proper contractions of the atria (two upper chambers of your heart), some blood may remain in them and pool.
If your blood gets the opportunity to pool it can clot.
If a blood clot formed in your atria (upper heart chambers) is pumped out of the heart into the brain it can block the blood supply to a part of the brain and cause a stroke according to HEART.ORG.