This blog “Is Atrial Fibrillation Genetic?” was written by me July 3, 2017. More has happened since then, almost a year and a half ago. Even the protocol for my participation in the genetic study has changed. I will write more about it in the weeks to come but must first check with genetic scientists doing the study as to what is finally accurate, not that it is final, but current at this time. Very recently (last week) I listened to dialogue reporting that there may be a connection between atrial fib and some forms of dementia. Read this and watch for more. Meanwhile check out my memoir, IN A HEARTBEAT: The Ups & Downs of Life with Atrial Fib.
I asked my doctor if atrial fib has any connections to other heart problems or is it genetic.
He and several other electrophysiologists and cardiologists that were giving a tour of a new hospital said that as far as they knew, it wasn’t but that genetic studies were taking place. That was almost 10 years ago.
It’s a different story now. Doctors have discovered that not only are all heart problems related but that there is definitely a genetic link. Some hospitals are studying that as we speak. They have been doing genetic studies for heart and heart related problems on families all over the world.
Now they are planning a study on 2 or 3 generations of my family. Several of my family met with doctors who are engineering this study. Those family members who agreed to participate will receive a DNA packet including a mouth wash and container where they can insert their saliva…in other words, “spit” into it. They will send it back to heart genetics researchers for study. DNA studies will lead us to many cures for everything. An interesting fact that I recently learned from a scientist working in this field is that there are more than 3 billion base pairs (referred to as double-stranded DNA) in our bodies where DNA can be tested.
Now those doctors are discovering that not only are heart problems related, but that diabetes and diverticulitis are also connected as is age, a topic I can testify to on an almost daily basis. This past winter I was diagnosed with diverticulitis. With attitude, diet and consciousness of what I put into my body and when, diverticulitis, so far, can be somewhat controlled.
No time to feel sorry for one’s self. I call these stumbling blocks to aging, “evidence of living”.
