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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Doctors Address Rise of AFib: A Serious, Maybe Invisible Cardiac Issue

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Wednesday, September 19, 2018   

MADISON, Wis. - September is AFib Awareness Month, and the American Heart Association is hosting a Twitter chat on atrial fibrillation to spread the word.

Dr. Kelly McDonnell, a cardiac electrophysiologist from SSM Health, said doctors are seeing more AFib, which worries them because having this condition makes a stroke many times more likely. McDonnell said it's a quivering or irregular heartbeat in the top chambers of the heart that might feel like a fish flopping in your chest.

"So, instead of someone having the normal 'lub-dub, lub-dub,' some patients will describe a sensation of feeling a flipping and flopping in their chest," she said. "Some people may experience lightheadedness, dizziness, weakness. Unfortunately, not every patient has symptoms."

McDonnell said a doctor may use an electrocardiogram to test for it. Risk of AFib can rise with age, high blood pressure and other heart conditions, she said, as well as alcohol use, high cholesterol and sleep apnea. Treatment may require blood thinners or just general heart health improvements through things such as weight loss. She said it's important not to ignore, because it can dramatically increase a person's risk of stroke.

"When you go from a normal pumping heart to an abnormal rhythm, the top chambers of the heart tend to quiver and shake, which leads to an environment where the blood can clot," she said. "If clots form in the heart, they can break off and cause strokes."

The Twitter chat is from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday. To join, go to Twitter and search with #AFIBMonth.

About 5 million people in the United States have AFib. Much more information is on the American Heart Association's website, heart.org.


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