stroke

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, affects between 2.7 and 6.1 million people in the United States. Approximately 9% of people over the age of 65 are afflicted with this heart condition. [2]
AFib is the most common type of heart arrhythmia. The disorder occurs when the heart beats too slowly, too quickly, or in an irregular way, and the blood doesn’t flow properly from the atria to the lower two ventricles of the heart. It can be an off-and-on occurrence, or it can be permanent. [1]

When 23-year-old Sarah Brison awoke at 1 a.m. one early July morning with excruciating chest pain, she thought she was having a panic attack. A heart attack didn’t cross her mind; after all, she was a fit and healthy gym rat. There was no reason to believe it was anything serious.
Even when the Surrey, England, woman’s vision went blurry, she suddenly couldn’t feel her limbs and she started to sweat profusely, she was still in denial about the grave danger she was in. Healthy women in their early 20s don’t have serious health problems.

A major study involving nearly 800,000 Japanese individuals shows that consuming fizzy drinks can “significantly” increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. The study found that the more people spent on fizzy beverages, the more likely they are to suffer cardiac arrest outside of the hospital. [1]

Patients who take antidepressants with painkillers could be setting themselves up for deadly adverse events, new research suggests.