Column #65

Atrial Fibrillation (AF), an “old folks” disease, impacts 2.7 million Americans. There’s no simple cure and even prevention seems doubtful.

David Wilber, MD, professor and director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago says “For every episode of atrial fibrillation that is recognized, there is probably one episode that is not recognized. Atrial fibrillation symptoms like fatigue or feeling lightheaded can be subtle.”

AF symptoms include a rapid pulse (heartbeat), palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, and feeling very tired. It’s rare before age 50 but half of all AF victims are younger than 75. About 10% to 20% of all octogenarians have AF episodes. As baby boomers “come of age” expect about 160,000 new AF cases every year, men more than women.

Obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, hyperthyroidism, sleep apnea, and alcoholic beverages are associated with AF. Also AF increases the risk of stroke sixfold and doubles mortality risk. In most AF cases the causes aren’t established.

The most popular “cure” for persistent AF cases is ablation, a minimally invasive procedure. Special wires are threaded through a vein to the heart. When the source of abnormal electrical activity is pinpointed, the faulty path is scarred, blocking electrical signals to the heart while the other paths remain intact. There are also prescription drugs for AF and in some cases doctors advise folks to just live with it.

If you don’t want to risk AF or if you think you’ve had some episodes, there is a diet approach since AF involves nerves. I searched for research about AF and Omega-3 diets but could not find any long-term studies. The reports I found, all negative, were for short periods involving daily fish oil supplements. Not one report focused on changing ratios of Omega-6 to Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFA) in their AF subjects. That’s a critical oversight.

There are many studies reporting improvements in obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, hyperthyroidism, and sleep apnea with Omega-3 fatty acids. Also it’s well documented that EFAs are instrumental in passing electrical signals from one cell, or neuron, to the next via synapses which maybe critically important for avoiding or addressing AF.

These improvements in health credited to Omega-3 fatty acids always involve the lowering of the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 EFAs. Ratios above 4:1 are associated with chronic diseases while ratios close to 1:1 are associated with an absence of chronic diseases. Most Americans have unhealthy ratios around 15:1.

Prevention starts by taking the Omega-3 Test to determine one’s ratio followed by a diet to get it down to 1:1.  https://omega3test.com/ The best foods for a lower ratio are green vegetables, grass-fed and Omega-3 meats, wild-caught seafood, and fish and/or flaxseed oils. Foods with high ratios one must avoid are grains, seeds, vegetable oils, nuts, grain-fed meats, and fruit.

Improving one’s diet is the best preventative “medicine” for addressing chronic diseases and it most likely will work on AF too.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

Omega-3 Test (enter slanker in the offer code for discount)

Fish oils are supposed to boost our brainpower. But do the facts really stack up? We went in search of the evidence.

7 Risks for the Irregular Heartbeats of Atrial Fibrillation

Long-term Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation Reduces the Recurrence of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation after Electrical Cardioversion.  Abstract

The Link Between Atrial Fibrillation and Obesity