Phone call from Diedre Tue May 7

Diedre called last night to say that Mom had come to the outpatient department complaining of rapid hearbeat, diagnosed as atrial fibrilation.  Got her to Kaiser, doctor examined her, changed her meds, enrolling her in class about atrial fibrilation.

From Wikipedia:

Atrial fibrillation (AF or A-fib) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart beat). It may cause no symptoms, but it is often associated with palpitations, fainting,chest pain, or congestive heart failure. However, in some people atrial fibrillation is caused by otherwise idiopathic or benign conditions.

AF increases the risk of stroke; the degree of stroke risk can be up to seven times that of the average population, depending on the presence of additional risk factors (such ashigh blood pressure). It may be identified clinically when taking a pulse, and the presence of AF can be confirmed with an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) which demonstrates the absence of P waves together with an irregular ventricular rate.