Santa Maria Doctors Seeing Rise In Cases During AFib Awareness Month
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – September is AFib Awareness Month, and doctors in Santa Maria are highlighting early warning signs.
Atrial Fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat condition, increases a person’s risk of stroke fivefold.
One in four adults over age 40 is at risk for developing atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib.
Left untreated, the condition can lead to heart failure and other severe cardiovascular complications.
Dignity Health operates medical facilities offering cardiac rhythm services in San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria.
Dr. Brett Gidney, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Dignity Health Pacific Central Coast Health Centers, emphasizes that early detection is essential for effective treatment.
Medical care for AFib involves addressing individual risk factors rather than relying on a standard approach.
Dr. Gidney notes that care plans are customized based on a patient’s overall health profile.
“Having atrial fibrillation doesn’t automatically mean someone’s unhealthy, perfectly healthy people can end up with this problem,” says Dr. Gidney. “And it can affect their quality of life or their ability to engage in athletics or just day to day living. But it’s a solvable problem, and we have many, many ways to approach atrial fibrillation to solve it.”
Local medical centers utilize electrophysiology labs and offer procedures such as catheter ablation to manage cardiac rhythms.
The Latest Breaking News, Weather Alerts, Sports and More Anytime On Our Mobile Apps. Keep Up With The Latest Articles by Signing Up for the News Channel 3-12 Newsletter.
Click here to follow the original article.