Get healthier in a heartbeat

AS we grow older our heart and vessels undergo age-related changes. Understanding these changes and the factors that predispose to these conditions can lead to a healthy heart even as we advance to our golden years.

Racing heart

Have you ever had a sudden onset of fast heartbeat, sudden unexplained episodes of dizzy spells or transient shortness of breath, and when you check your pulse, you noticed that the heart rhythm is irregular? You may be having transient episodes of an abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation, which occurs with increasing frequency with age, affecting about one in 10 above the age of 65.

Atrial fibrillation is not just the usual abnormal heart rhythm but a serious problem with potentially dire circumstances. In atrial fibrillation, the left and right upper heart chambers (atria) are beating at the rate of about 400 per minute in an extremely irregular manner which means that the atria are "quiver…