People with a common heart rhythm problem face a far greater risk of suffering a stroke and developing dementia that previously thoughts, a study suggests.
Atrial fibrillation (AF), an electric fault that causes a racing or irregular pulse, affects 1.4 million people in Britain. Celebrities including Elton John, Miley Cyrus, Tony Blair and Joe Biden are among celebrities known to suffer with it.
It has long been known the condition increases the risk of a stroke as sufferers are more likely to develop blood clots that blood the circulation to the brain.
For this reason, those most at risk are given blood thinning drug to prevent an attack.
But researchers now believe even those deemed low-risk — and not given blood thinner — may be more likely to suffer serious health problems.
Miley Cyrus is known to suffer from atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat condition that affects 1.4 million in Britain
Elton John’s irregular heartbeat was so severe he needed a pacemaker
A team from the University of Birmingham examined data on more than five million people registered with UK GP practices.
Among these they identified 36,340 AF patients who had no history of stroke, a low perceived risk of stroke and no prescription for blood thinners.
They were tracked for an average of five years to assess their risk of strokes, vascular dementia or death. Their data was compared with information held on 117,000 healthy people without AF.
Despite being in the low-risk group, some 3.8 per cent of AF patients had a stroke, compared with 1.5 per cent of healthy people.
And people with the condition had 68 per cent increased odds of developing vascular dementia, a form of the disease linked to problems with circulation in the brain.
Nine per cent per cent of people with AF died compared with five per cent of healthy people according to the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Dipak Kotecha, professor of cardiology at the University of Birmingham and senior author of the study, said: ‘Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common heart conditions, with over 60 million cases expected worldwide by 2050.
‘With its prevalence continuing to rise, it is crucial that we develop strategies to prevent not only stroke, but outcomes like dementia which are a big concern for patients and healthcare systems.
‘Our research highlights the urgency of addressing AF comprehensively, considering its overall impact on the wellbeing of patients.’
Alastair Mobley, researcher at the University of Birmingham, said: ‘This study demonstrates a clear correlation between AF and vascular dementia.
‘This may have a similar mechanism to the association between AF and stroke.
‘Ongoing clinical trials are exploring whether blood thinners in lower-risk patients can provide a way to prevent these bad outcomes.’
Atrial fibrillation is a heart condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. In some cases people with the condition have a heart rate of more than 100 beats a minute.
It is the most common heart rhythm disturbance. The condition has been linked to blood clots and there are ‘numerous’ tools to estimate stroke risk among people with AF but researchers said they only have a ‘modest predictive capacity’ and do not consider other outcomes such as vascular dementia.
The authors highlight how guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and others recommend anticoagulant use only in patients with an elevated stroke risk score.
They said that more trials are needed to asses whether patients with AF could benefit from earlier use of blood thinners to prevent these bad outcomes.
Source: Mail Online
