A-Fib Hits Men Earlier Than Women

Men develop a dangerous type of irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation a decade earlier than women, a new study suggests. And being overweight increased odds for the condition in both sexes, those extra pounds were more troublesome for males, the German researchers found.

“It’s crucial to better understand modifiable risk factors of atrial fibrillation,” said study author Dr. Christina Magnussen. “If prevention strategies succeed in targeting these risk factors, we expect a noticeable decline in now-onset atrial fibrillation,” added Magnussen, a specialist in internal medicine and cardiology at the University Heart Center in Hamburg.

A-Fib means the upper chambers of the heart, or atria, quiver instead of beat. In the new 13-year study, the condition tripled the odds of dying prematurely. According to the American Heart Association statistics, as many as 6 million Americans have atrial fibrillation, with those numbers likely doubling by 2030.

In this study, researchers examined the medical records of nearly 80,000 people, aged 24 to 97, in Europe who initially did not have atrial fibrillation. Later assessments showed than more than 6% of men and over 4% of women had been diagnosed with A-Fib.

Risk of diagnosis accelerated sharply in men after 50 and in women after 60. By age 90, nearly one-quarter of men and women were told they had atrial fibrillation, the study found.