doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT- Atrial Fibrillation - heart monitor

This is off topic but since many of the members here that are doublegun collectors are ... well, old and may have this condition or know of someone that does. It is a condition that commonly affects the elderly. Evidently, some 30% of people over 80 have this condition. On my recent horse ride, one 54 yr old rider had this condition. That's only a few yrs older than I. So I thought this topic could be beneficial and enlightening to some and me.

My 83 yr old mother has been dealing with an atrial fibrillation heart condition for the last couple months. It is a serious condition that can lead to severe stroke and death in some cases. There are other complications as well.

She was put on strong medications to deal with the condition but still developed serious fluid accumulation in her lungs and had to be hospitalized last week. They performed a procedure where they zapped her heart and it was successful in restoring a normal heartbeat. However, the condition could return at anytime and I think it can be transient.

So, I was looking for a home heart monitoring device that would be able to show what an Electro-Cardio Graph shows; the detailed heartbeat (classic line-blip) so that we could check regularly her condition at home before serious side effects revealed a return of the condition.

I found this device for about $400;


http://www.omronhealthcare.com/enTouchCMS/app/viewDocument?docID=3690&parntCatgId=169

I'd be interested in any information about either this device or anything related.

Chuck,
I sent you a PM on this.

Chuck,
never heard of the that company until this morning when my doc called and reccomended I buy a blood presser tester made by them so I could test mine daily at home(of course this subprime loan messing up the stock market is the problem!).
Sucks getting old !
Pleased your chocolate is working out well no doubt they are our best medicine
Best,
Dave K

Dave K, it is not bad getting old, it is worse not to get there! I am working hard to get to old age, and I hope I feel young enough to enjoy it.

Chuck,

Sorry to hear about your Mom. Take good care of her because it sucks when they are gone. Mine had a fatal stroke after many years of heart desease. She was only 63. Worst thing that has ever happened in my life. I'll talk to my wife tomorrow about what she might know about these home monitors. She spent 15 years in the cardiac catherization lab as an RN. She may have some good advice.

Bill G.

The monitor came this afternoon. It's not much bigger than most personal gps devices and will record a 30 second period of a heart signal up to 300 separate times onto a SD memory chip. I've been playing with it and it appears to work well. It says I have a "irregular heart rate" (57 at rest which is consistant with my history). I may ask the doctor if he'd like to take it and try it on a real A-fib patient to see if it will resolve that anomoly.

The procedure you referred to is Cardiac Ablation. I had it done a few years ago. Was a direct result of the electric currents in the heart that was caused by implantation of a mechanical heart valve.

Jim, ablation was one of the treatments we discussed with the cardiologist. But he didn't want to do that before trying what they call electrical cardioversion. Basically, a use of a defibrillator to zap the heart which sometimes changes the rythym.

If you ever have need for a pacemaker(hopefully, you won't) ask the doc to put it on your left side(if you're right-handed) so you can still shoot. apparently, the "regular" position is on the right side, but the doc can place it on the left if asked.

A-fib killed my mother... at age 93. I have it and have toyed with the idea of an ablation but am hoping that a newer treatment which works like a pacemaker and does not require serious surgery will become more available. The cost of an ablation makes some other treatment favorable. I live with it but not without bad moments and the risks of stroke are there also! If I find any information I will post it. David