Palpitations May be a Sign of Future Heart Rhythm Problem

Patients at higher risk for atrial fibrillation, study shows

The findings of a new study suggest that palpitations and high blood pressure are significant risk factors for a heart rhythm disorder known as atrial fibrillation which affects many people.

Atrial fibrillation raises a person’s chances of suffering a heart attack, stroke and death. High blood pressure was previously found to be a risk factor for atrial fibrillation, but the researchers said that the new study is the first to establish a link between palpitations and atrial fibrillation. Palpitations are usually felt by patients as a fast or strong irregular heartbeat.

For the new study, the researchers examined data from almost 23,000 people in Norway, who were 25 to 96 years of age. The participants were followed for an average period of 11 years, and during that time, about 3 percent of women and 4.2 percent of men experienced atrial fibrillation.

Recurrent palpitations caused the risk of atrial fibrillation to rise in women by 62 percent and by 91 percent in men. On the other hand, high blood pressure (defined as a reading of at least 140/90 mmHG) raised the risk of atrial fibrillation almost two times in women and increased men’s odds of having the disorder by 40 percent, the investigators mentioned in a news release issued by the European Society of Cardiology.

Risk factors of palpitations

In addition, the investigators found that risk factors for palpitations included lifestyle issues like alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking, and biological factors such as age, blood pressure, diabetes and body mass index (or BMI which measures a person’s body weight in relation to his height).

The findings of the study were published in the May 15 issue of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

But according to the researchers, they could not reach a definitive conclusion that palpitations were directly causing the heart rhythm disorder even if the link between palpitations and atrial fibrillation was still significant after other risk factors were taken into consideration.

In the news release, Dr. Audhild Nyrnes, of the University of Tromso in Norway, who’s the senior author of the study, said though that “in this case, it is not unreasonable to propose a causal relationship.”