What you need to know about atrial fibrillation (AFib) and stroke

What is Atrial Fibrillation (AFib)?

AFib is a common condition in the heart that causes the atria – the upper two chambers of the heart – to beat very fast and irregularly. When this happens, blood isn't pumped through the heart as well as it should be, which makes people with AFib vulnerable to the formation of a blood clot in the atria.

AFib is the most prevalent sustained cardiac arrhythmia (heart irregularity) in the United States, affecting more than 2.2 million Americans. In the past 20 years, there has been a 66 percent increase in hospital admissions for AFib, due to the aging population.

Looking ahead, it is estimated that AFib will affect more than 12 million people in the U.S. by 2050.

Even sensible responsible people tend to become awful gluttons over the long Christmas season. A South Florida professional who specializes in colon irrigation, said that several people "seem determined" to go on an eating binge over the season, starting with Thanksgiving Day Dinner, including several holiday lunches, dinner, and parties. But, one need only see the culinary spread on Christmas Day, especially in Caribbean –American households to understand why health experts claim that individuals put on an average 9 pounds during the holiday season.

For most of the holiday season, and definitely just before, during and after Christmas, Caribbean American feed on grease and sugar. Their diet include: baked ham, fried or roasted chicken, roast turkey, jerk chicken and/or pork, roast beef, rice and peas, fried plantains, candied potatoes, macaroni and cheese, curried mutton, ox-tail, an assortment of desserts including the calorie laden fruit/rum cake, sweet potato pudding, cheese cakes, cookies, ice-cream, sweet drinks – fruit punch, lemonade, sorrel, ginger beer, sodas, and of course alcoholic drinks like white and/or red rum, beer, rum punch, etc.

Have back pain? Your constant or acute back pain can be caused by bad posture. And if you are sitting most of the day, you might be training your body to slump over into folded, or "weak" posture. Even though your back may never be perfectly straight, there are ways to relieve pain by strengthening posture.

The low-back pain from sitting results from poor bio-mechanics – when posture and balance weaken because the body is not mechanically well aligned. Simply keeping balance when you stand up with weak posture will tax muscles and stress joints. Good balance, and the ability to control it, can retrain muscles and nerves and thus reduce pain and boost function.

The first step towards stronger posture is improving the symmetry of how your body moves on each side. Just changing the position from which you move can help loosen stiff joints.

The "Sitting Leg Cross Strong Posture Stretch" is an easy back and hip exercise you can do at your desk. Use your office chair, or, if you want a challenge, do the Sitting Leg Cross while sitting on a ball.

A new study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) suggests that early intervention and pro-active primary care can avert more than six million annual hospitalizations for chronic diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The study shows that 16 percent, or one in six patients who check into a hospital, do so because of chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Results of the study were announced recently at the Chronic Diseases, Primary Health Care and Health System Performance: Diagnosis, Tools and Interventions – an IDB collaboration with the Government of Bahia and the Federal University in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Policy makers, international organizations and leading researchers from Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States and Europe gathered to explore solutions and share innovations on fighting the growing, dangerous frequency of chronic illnesses.