September marks National Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common arrhythmia, presenting with an irregular and often rapid heart rate that may increase the risk of stroke, heart failure, and other heart-related complications.

There are 3 types of AFib:

• Paroxysmal: it randomly comes and goes, and usually stops on its own.
• Persistent: lasts more than one week and can become permanent if it doesn’t return to normal.
• Permanent: heart cannot be restored to its normal rhythm.

Did You Know?

1. AFib is estimated to affect five million patients in the United States. ¹
2. AFib causes 1 in 7 strokes. ²
3. Three out of 4 patients with AFib have an elevated heart rate of over 100 beats per minute, also known as a rapid ventricular rate, or RVR. This is called AFib with RVR for short.

Click here to learn more about AFib with RVR, one of Milestone’s areas of focus.

¹ American Heart Association CVD Burden Report, 2015
² Heart Rhythm Society. (2019). Complications from Atrial Fibrillation. Accessed May 9, 2019.