Atrial Fibrillation Beyond Blood Thinners

Dr. Michael Koren joins Kevin Geddings to discuss atrial fibrillation. This heart condition is caused by rapid, irregular heartbeats originating in the upper chambers and is a critical risk factor for strokes. Dr. Koren talks about the current standard-of-care medicines for atrial fibrillation, blood thinners, and  their shortcomings. He finishes with an explanation of how clinical trials are looking for new ways to lower the risk of stroke in those with atrial fibrillation with a better side effect profile than current blood thinners.

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Music: Storyblocks - Corporate Inspired

Thank you for listening!

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Host Introduction
• 0:31 What Atrial Fibrillation Is
• 1:56 Why AFib Raises Stroke Risk
• 2:42 Blood Thinners: Benefits And Tradeoffs
• 3:21 New Trial For Safer Anticoagulation
• 4:20 How To Get Evaluated And Next Steps
• 4:40 Closing And Where To Learn More

Transcript

Announcer: 0:00

Welcome to the Med Evidence Monday Minute Radio Show, hosted by Kevin Gettings of WSOS Radio and powered by ENCORE Research Group. Each Monday morning, Dr. Michael Koren calls us to bring you the latest medical updates with insightful discussions. MedEvidence is where we help you navigate the real truth behind medical research from both a clinical and research perspective. So sit back, relax, and get ready to learn about the truth behind the data in medicine and healthcare. This is MedEvidence!

Kevin Geddings: 0:31

We're live from St. Augustine on this typical, more traditional January morning. A little bit of a bite in the air, right, Dr. Michael Koren?

Dr. Michael Koren: 0:40

It is. My car says 53 degrees Fahrenheit.

Kevin Geddings: 0:53

But you're not having to scrape ice off the windshield, so its still a good to live in paradise.

Dr. Michael Koren: 0:53

Oh no doubt. I'm not going to argue with that one bit.

Kevin Geddings: 0:53

Dr. Michael Koren joins us on Monday mornings typically, and we appreciate him taking time out of his busy schedule. He, of course, is a medical doctor, cardiologist, and research scientist, and a big part of our family here at WSOS.

Dr. Michael Koren: 1:06

We're working on a problem in atrial fibrillation. So for people listening, you may or may not know what atrial fibrillation is. I think most people have a sense for it, but it really is an irregular heartbeat that starts from the top of the heart. That's a very common arrhythmia or electrical conduction problem that people have because of complications of hypertension or coronary artery disease or other things. But again, atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat. We describe it as irregularly irregular because it's very, very random in terms of your beat. So instead of having that steady heartbeat or heartbeat with an occasional extra beat, we're having a situation where it's sort of random the way your heart rhythm is, and that's called atrial fibrillation. Now the the reason cardiologists are concerned about atrial fibrillation is twofold. Number one is that people in atrial fibrillation usually can't do quite as much as people who are in a normal rhythm. When your heart is in atrial fibrillation, the pumping function of the heart is not synchronized quite as well. So you're usually not able to do as much. But uh, even bigger reason that we get concerned about atrial fibrillation is that it's a very strong risk factor for strokes. So we often quote the fact that if you're one human being that has sinus rhythm and you take the exact same human being and just create fibrillation, the risk of a stroke goes up five or six times. So that's a real construct concerning statistic. But the good news, Kevin, is that we can use blood thinners. And when we use blood thinners, that stroke risk of atrial fibrillation goes way back down. So with that in mind, we have all these guidelines about when to use blood thinners in people who have atrial fibrillation. Right now, we're recruiting for a study looking at a new type of blood thinner for atrial fibrillation. And the reason that we're excited about this study is that it may be a safer form of medicine for blood thinning purposes. So while blood thinners can be life-saving in atrial fibrillation by preventing strokes, they can also cause bleeding complications. So we're very interested right now for patients out there who have a history of atrial fibrillation, who are in or who are in atrial fibrillation, who may have had some bleeding complications, like maybe you've had some blood in the stool, or maybe you've had a bleeding ulcer. Well, you might be a good candidate for this program where we're actually looking at treating atrial fibrillation patients with this new type of blood thinner that may be a little safer than what we have on the market now.

Kevin Geddings: 3:47

And it would need to be somebody who's already been diagnosed with AFib, correct?

Dr. Michael Koren: 3:52

Yes, or frankly, we're you know, we take a very holistic approach to our patient population. So if you're not sure and you want to come in and learn more about what we're doing, there are lots of different programs that we can help you evaluate to see if you have atrial fibrillation or another type of heart arrhythmia or some other problem, just give you a little bit more insight into your condition based on your medical history. And then if you in fact are in atrial fibrillation and you're at high risk for bleeding because of a blood thinner, you might be a good candidate for this program. But if not, we'll give you some patient education at no cost, and maybe even talk about some of the other stuff that we're doing if those type of programs are more appropriate for you.

Kevin Geddings: 4:32

Okay. Very good. Well, Dr. Koren, thank you again for your time. We'll talk again next week, and we hope you have a good week, okay?

Dr. Michael Koren: 4:38

Same to you. Be well, Kevin.

Announcer: 4:40

Thanks for joining the Med Evidence Podcast. To learn more, head over to Medevidence.com or subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.