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By Aneeta Sundararaj
Imagine that your heart is like a house: You call a plumber when the pipes are clogged up.
That's how you'll understand atrial fibrillation (AF), says Datuk Dr Razali Omar (pic), consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist at National Heart Institute. If your arteries (which he likens to water pipes) are clogged, you'll see a cardiologist to "unclog" them.
If you have a faulty electrical system, you call an electrician. Similarly, you'll probably see an electrophysiologist if there's something wrong with the electrical system in your heart.
The human heart has an electrical system? Well, yes.
The heart has four chambers - left and right atria (the upper chambers) and the left and right ventricles (the lower chambers). Its pumping action is regulated by the flow of electricity. In a person with a normal heart rate and rhythm, the heart beats between 50 and 100 times per minute.
With AF, the heart beats irregularly or rapidly (up to 180 beats per minute). When the heart cannot pump blood efficiently, there is a chance that blood will pool in it.
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Dr Razali Omar (Photo:NST)
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By itself, AF is not likely to cause sudden death. However, the complications arising from AF make the condition problematic. For example, if insufficient blood is supplied to the body, a person may feel tired, suffer chest pains or have fluid accumulating in the legs and lungs. If untreated, this is likely to cause heart failure.
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