A-Fib Doesn’t Mean You’re Banished to the Sidelines

HealthDay Reporter: FRIDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) — Cutting back on exercise, or stopping altogether, might seem like the right move for people whose heart beats too fast and erratically, a condition called atrial fibrillation. But that’s not necessarily so.

In fact, staying active — biking, swimming, perhaps even playing pickup basketball, for instance — might be just what the doctor ordered.

The key, heart experts say, is to make sure the heart rate doesn’t go above a certain level, or that exercise doesn’t trigger an uncontrolled heart rhythm.

“There’s a very common misunderstanding that a lack of exercise can help prevent heart rhythm problems, and that’s not true for the far majority of people,” said Dr. Emile Daoud, a cardiologist and chief of the cardiac electrophysiology section at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. Read more