Previously, the Skeptical Cardiologist answered the question ""
An equally important question is "How can I reduce the chances that I have more spells of atrial fibrillation?"
I spend a fair amount of time discussing with my AF patients what lifestyle changes they can make in this regard. I've discovered, however, that many AF patients I am seeing for a second opinion seem unaware of the changes they can make to minimize AF recurrence.
Herein, I give you the eight most important changes you can make to minimize both the onset and the recurrence of AF.
- Eliminate or substantially reduce alcohol intake.
- Lose weight if you are obese.
- Stop smoking. Stopping is associated with a 36% lower risk of AF.
- Get your blood pressure under good control.
- Get regular aerobic exercise. At least 150 minutes of moderate cardio exercise weekly.
- Eat a healthy diet. Don't eat crap, as " says. In general, whatever diet plan has you at a BMI <28 is fine. Healthy diets controlling weight avoid ultra-processed foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, and minimize white rice, pasta, pastries, and potatoes. These diets include lots of fresh vegetables, nuts, olive oil, and fish. Full-fat yogurt and cheese are fine in moderation. Eat real food, mostly plants, not too much, as has famously said.
- Get high-quality sleep. This means treating any sleep apnea properly, in addition to standard advice for getting a good night's sleep. The risk of AF is four times higher with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) independent of other confounding variables.
- Reduce stress. Easier said than done, I know. Everything from meditation to yoga to retiring or cutting back at work to psychotherapy can be tried in this category. Go with whatever works for you. Knowing when you are in or out of AF by utilizing personal ECG monitoring devices may help reduce stress, especially if used under physician supervision.
Let's dig a little deeper into some specific recent evidence on three aspects that have a huge impact: alcohol, exercise, and obesity.
Alcohol and AF
In March, I wrote about the recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine:
Binge alcohol consumption (holiday heart) can trigger atrial fibrillation (AF) and observational studies show a higher incidence of AF with higher amounts of alcohol consumption.
This trial was the first-ever randomized controlled trial of alcohol abstinence in moderate drinkers with paroxysmal AF (minimum 2 episodes in the last 6 months) or persistent AF requiring cardioversion.
Participants consumed ≥10 standard drinks per week and were randomized to abstinence or usual consumption. Participants underwent comprehensive rhythm monitoring with implantable loop recorders or existing pacemakers and twice-daily AliveCor monitoring for 6 months.
Abstinence prolonged AF-free survival by 37% (118 vs 86 days) and lowered the AF burden from 8.2% to 5.6%. AF related hospitalizations occurred in 9% of abstinence patients versus 20% of controls. Participants in the abstinence arm also experienced improved symptom severity, weight loss and BP control.
This trial gives me precise numbers to present to my AF patients to show them how important eliminating alcohol consumption is if they want to have fewer AF episodes. The study further emphasizes lifestyle changes (including weight loss, exercise, and stress reduction) can dramatically reduce the incidence of AF.
Obesity and AF
We have known for some time of a strong association between obesity and atrial fibrillation. We also know we and creating a diseased, fat-infiltrated left atrium.
More recently, we have solid evidence that sustained weight reduction can significantly reduce the recurrence of AF.
The took 355 AF patients with BMI >27 and offered them a weight management program with yearly weight follow-up. Endpoints included impact on the AF severity scale and 7-day ambulatory monitoring.
Weight loss ≥10% resulted in a six-fold greater probability of no AF recurrences compared with lesser degrees of weight loss. Large weight fluctuations doubled the risk of AF recurrence.
Of course, all these factors are interrelated. Exercise, diet, stress, alcohol consumption, and sleep quality all impact weight control and obesity. Patients with AF should be working on all eight levers for optimal benefit.
Given the LEGACY study findings, people who have AF and are obese should be using all lifestyle factors at their disposal to get body weight down 10% in a slow and steady fashion with lifestyle changes that are sustainable for the rest of their life. They need to lose that weight and keep it off.
Exercise and AF
The most compelling evidence for the independent role of exercise in reducing AF comes from a of 51 patients with AF who were randomized either to aerobic interval training (AIT) or to their regular exercise habits. The patients randomized to AIT engaged in four 4-minute bouts of high-intensity (85% to 95% peak heart rate) aerobic exercise interspersed with 3 minutes of recovery.
There was a significant reduction in AF burden (measured by implanted loop recorders) in the exercise group, with the mean time in AF dropping from 8.1% to 4.8%, with no significant change in the control group. Patients in the exercise group experienced fewer and less severe symptoms whereas the non-exercising control group had no change. In comparison with controls, patients randomly assigned to exercise also increased their peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), cardiac function, and quality of life, while improving body mass index and blood lipids.
Mean changes from baseline to follow-up were −6.2 percentage points (pp), P=0.02 for exercise; 4.8 pp, P=0.09 for control; and 11.0 pp, P=0.007 between groups.
An provides this graphic on the benefits of exercise training in AF:
People without AF can minimize risk of AF by following these lifestyle recommendations, too. A PDF summary of the eight factors is available .
For those wishing to mimic the Norwegian AIT protocol, here is the complete description:
Endurance training was performed as walking or running on a treadmill 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Each session started with a 10-minute warmup at 60% to 70% of maximal heart rate obtained at exercise testing (HRpeak), followed by four 4-minute intervals at 85% to 95% of HRpeak with 3 minutes of active recovery at 60% to 70% of HRpeak between intervals, ending with a 5-minute cooldown period. During AF, patients exercised at the same treadmill speed and inclination as in the previous sessions in sinus rhythm, with the Borg scale of 6 to 20 as an aid to control intensity. When familiar with the training regimen, patients were allowed to perform 1 exercise per week at home, where exercise intensity was documented with a heart rate monitor (RS300X, Polar Electro, Kempele, Finland).
, is a private practice noninvasive cardiologist and medical director of echocardiography at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis. He blogs on nutrition, cardiac testing, quackery, and other things worthy of skepticism at, where a version of this post first appeared.