Atrial fibrillation causes an irregular and abrupt rise in the heart rate that may cause heart-related ailments and stroke. This causes the formation of clots in the heart, which blocks the flow of blood. In the case of this disease, the upper chambers, also known as atria, beat chaotically and irregularly. The coordination of the atria and the ventricles is disrupted.

It may not solely cause death but can increase the probability of death. It is necessary to treat this medical condition in time as it may result in adverse complications otherwise. This article will reveal some facts about atrial fibrillation.

Causes of atrial fibrillation
Fibrillation of atria is a medical condition that is caused as the atria chambers receive chaotic signals. The upper right atrium is supplemented with the sinus node, which is the heart’s pacemaker. The sinus node is responsible to produce an impulse to cause the heart to beat.

The impulse on reaching the upper chamber travels down to the atrioventricular node residing at the junction of the atrium and the ventricle. The AV node is also stroked with the irregular impulses that cause the ventricles to beat rapidly. The heart rhythm becomes irregular, causing the heart to beat 100-175 times in a minute.

Symptoms of atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation keeps a person in an unaware condition until they are physically examined for the disease. There may be signs and symptoms, which may include the following:

• Palpitation
• Irregular and uncomfortable heartbeat
• Reduced ability
• Lightheadedness
• Fatigue
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath

Risk factors associated with atrial fibrillation
There are many risk factors associated with atrial fibrillation. Some of these are as follows:

• With age, the chances of contracting the disease increase.
• The problems like heart valve abnormality, congenital disease of the heart, congestive failure of heart, and a disease of the coronary artery may also cause atrial fibrillation.
• Alcohol abuse is a potent agent that can trigger fibrillation of atria.
• Obesity is a contributory factor that may cause the disease.
• The family history of having heart disease.

Treatment of atrial fibrillation
There are several ways to treat atrial fibrillation, which are as follows:

• Electrical cardioversion
  This is a process of delivering an electrical shock to the heart through patches or paddles attached to the chest. The momentary electrical activity of the heart is temporarily stopped. When the heart starts again, it resumes with the normal rhythm.
• Catheter ablation
  This is a surgical method where a catheter is inserted in the groin that reaches the heart after traversing through the blood vessels. The tips of the catheter use a radiofrequency beam that destroys and inactivates the hot spots through which erratic signals are transmitted. In due course, the arrhythmia is corrected.
• Surgical maze procedure
  In this open heart surgery, several incisions are precisely made to form scar tissue. This tissue interferes the impulse that causes the fibrillation. This surgical method has high rates of success as the stray impulses are no more conducted via the AV node.

Knowing these symptoms and causes of atrial fibrillation, it is important to have it treated at the earliest.