How does age affect A-Fib?
The older you are, the more likely you are to get A-Fib. One out of four people over 40 will get A-Fib in their lifetime.82 As patients get older, the prevalence of A-Fib increases, roughly doubling with each decade. 2-3% of people in their 60s, 5-6% of people in their 70s, and 8-10% of people in their 80s have A-Fib.68,69,70 This suggests that A-Fib may be related to degenerative, age-related changes in the heart. How old you are also affects what treatments will work for you. If you’re young and/or an athlete and/or in special occupations like a pilot, you may be given a Pulmonary Vein Ablation (PVA) as a first option. Young people can’t be expected to live the rest of their lives on rate control or antiarrhythmic meds, while people like athletes and pilots need to be A-Fib free to perform and to pass medical tests. Even though A-Fib affects mostly older people, if you’re over 80 years old, many centers will not accept you for a PVA. The reason is older people tend to be more frail a
