 I am Dr. Pradeep Harnally, Senior Constituent Cardiologist, Manipal Hospital, Whitefield. Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm condition wherein your heart starts beating irregular, fast, chaotic and at times it can slow down as well. Here the upper chambers of the heart beat out of coordination with the lower chambers. Atrial fibrillation gains its importance for the reason being it is very common, in particular with aging population and also increase in risk of hypertension among general population. Atrial fibrillation being a chaotic irregular rhythm, it increases the risk of clot formation in the upper chambers of the heart. Such clot formed in the upper chambers of the heart can recirculate into the body. They can go and clog any organ from its vital blood supply and such risk is most common to the brain thus leading to brain stroke. And also the increased chaotic heart beating can lead to heart failure in the long run. Atrial fibrillation in itself may not be life threatening but its complications can be. Atrial fibrillation at times may not cause any symptoms and it is incidentally detected when the patient goes to the hospital for some other reason ECG is taken. Otherwise some of the common symptoms what patients can present with could be palpitation, increased heart beat and breathing difficulty and also fainting episodes. Atrial fibrillation can be short lasting occasional where we call it as paroxysmal atrial fibrillation or it can be long standing and persistent or maybe even permanent. The complexity in diagnosis lies with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation for the reason being they happen unpredictable and they are very occasional. So in such situations detection may need prolonged recording of heart rhythm in the form of halter monitoring or repeating halter monitoring periodically or sometimes external loop recorders which are the options available for prolonged recording of the heart rhythm. In some situations it may even require implantable recorders. We can broadly categorize the causes of atrial fibrillation as valve related and those causes which are not related to heart valve conditions. So valvular problem is one of the most common causes of atrial fibrillation. The other causes which are not related to the heart valve are mainly hypertension, alcohol use and chronic lung disease, sleep apnea syndrome or maybe an acute episode of pneumonia and stress of surgery and binge alcohol use. All these can cause atrial fibrillation. Some of other common causes of atrial fibrillation are overactive thyroid gland, sick sinus syndrome particularly in elderly people and frequent use of some of the stimulant medications those which are used in common cold like conditions which we generally purchase over the counter. The complications related to atrial fibrillation are mainly pertaining to the heart rhythm leading to the clot formation in the heart and such clots can get dislodged and go downstream in the blood and clog vital organs from its important blood supply. So mainly it is known to clog the blood flow to the brain thus leading to stroke. Another important complication related to atrial fibrillation is due to fast heart beating. Such fast heart beating over period of time can weaken the heart muscle thus leading to heart failure. Treatment of atrial fibrillation consists of using medications to control the fast heart beat which mainly consists of beta blockers and calcium channel blockers or digoxin. The other measures include use of medications which help convert the heart rhythm into a regular normal rhythm that includes medications like amiodarone and electrical defibrillation thus bringing the heart rhythm back to normal rhythm. Another mainstay of treatment in atrial fibrillation is use of blood thinning medications which we call it as anticoagulant medications. In the current times there are two important categories of blood thinning medications that is anticoagulant medications are available and it has to be chosen depending on the situation. People with valve related atrial fibrillation will require use of conventional long term available anticoagulant medications like Warfarin which is a vitamin K antagonist. The other newer category of medications available is newer oral anticoagulant medications. So your doctor may choose one of the four available options in treating you thus reducing the risk of clot formation in the heart and hence the risk of stroke. Important thing to be understood is such blood thinning medications come with the important side effect of increased bleeding tendency. Your doctor will help identify such bleeding tendency and manage in such a way that the bleeding risk is lowered however we stay protected from risk of clot formation and hence the risk of stroke. Another treatment option available for treating atrial fibrillation is radiofrequency ablation. It is a minimally invasive procedure using the radiofrequency energy which helps making scar marks in the upper chambers of the heart thus converting the rhythm to a normal sinus rhythm. These options are required commonly among people who are symptomatic due to the atrial fibrillation rhythm and your doctor is the right person to judge on the need of this technique. Prevention of atrial fibrillation is possible by healthy lifestyle that is maintaining optimum body weight and a balanced diet. Avoiding use of stimulant medications like over the counter medications for cough and cold and also avoiding excess use of caffeine and limiting alcohol use.