Doctors & patients are saying about 'A-Fib.com'...

"A-Fib.com is a great web site for patients, that is unequaled by anything else out there."

Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

"Jill and I put you and your work in our prayers every night. What you do to help people through this [A-Fib] process is really incredible."

Jill and Steve Douglas, East Troy, WI

“I really appreciate all the information on your website as it allows me to be a better informed patient and to know what questions to ask my EP.

Faye Spencer, Boise, ID, April 2017

“I think your site has helped a lot of patients.”

Dr. Hugh G. Calkins, MD Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore, MD

Doctors & patients are saying about 'Beat Your A-Fib'...

"If I had [your book] 10 years ago, it would have saved me 8 years of hell.”

Roy Salmon, Patient, A-Fib Free,
Adelaide, Australia

"This book is incredibly complete and easy-to-understand for anybody. I certainly recommend it for patients who want to know more about atrial fibrillation than what they will learn from doctors...."

Pierre Jaïs, M.D. Professor of Cardiology, Haut-Lévêque Hospital, Bordeaux, France

"Dear Steve, I saw a patient this morning with your book [in hand] and highlights throughout. She loves it and finds it very useful to help her in dealing with atrial fibrillation."

Dr. Wilber Su,
Cavanaugh Heart Center, Phoenix, AZ

"...masterful. You managed to combine an encyclopedic compilation of information with the simplicity of presentation that enhances the delivery of the information to the reader. This is not an easy thing to do, but you have been very, very successful at it."

Ira David Levin, heart patient,
Rome, Italy

"Within the pages of Beat Your A-Fib, Dr. Steve Ryan, PhD, provides a comprehensive guide for persons seeking to find a cure for their Atrial Fibrillation."

Walter Kerwin, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Update: Aspirin No Longer Recommended as First-Line Therapy for Stroke Prevention

Aspirin: No longer recommended for stroke risk

by Steve Ryan, Update September 2020

Aspirin is no longer recommended as first-line therapy for Atrial Fibrillation patients according to the 2014 AHA/ACC/HRS Treatment Guidelines for Atrial Fibrillation. Though not a new finding, it should be noted that aspirin has been downgraded to a class 2B drug.

A similar directive is included in the 2012 European ESC guidelines for the Management of Atrial Fibrillation: aspirin is not recommended as first-line therapy for patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1.

Aspirin is not appropriate for people who are at low risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. For these people, the risks of gastrointestinal bleeding and hemorrhagic strokes outweigh any potential benefit. “Among the more than 16,000 deaths each year linked to bleeding…,about one-third of those deaths occur in those who take low-dose (81-mg) aspirin.” The FDA in 2014 warned against widespread use of aspirin in people of average risk.

Antiplatelet Aspirin

Aspirin also causes stomach ulcers in 13% of those using it. And these ulcers usually develop without any warning symptoms. Many of these ulcers will cause a serious stomach bleed at some point. Also, taking low-dose aspirin on a regular basis more than doubles your risk of developing wet macular degeneration. On the positive side, people regularly taking low-dose aspirin have a significantly lower chance of getting cancer. But according to Dr. Randall S. Stafford of Stanford, “no one should take daily, low-dose aspirin solely for the purpose of preventing cancer.”

According to a five-year study in Neurology, aspirin does nothing to prevent dementia or slow cognitive decline.

When is aspirin appropriate? Aspirin is recommended for “secondary” prevention of cardiovascular disease such as to prevent reoccurrence of a stroke or heart attack. Aspirin significantly reduces the risk for a second heart attack or stroke.

References for this article

2014 AHA/ACC/HRS Guideline for the Management of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation. Circulation. published online March 28, 2014, 4.2.1. Antiplatelet Agents, p 29.doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000041 Last accessed Nov 23, 2014.URL: From http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=1854230

ESC Management of Atrial Fibrillation 2010 and Focused Update (2012): ESC Clinical Practice Guidelines. European Society of Cardiology URL: http://www.escardio.org/Guidelines-&-Education/Clinical-Practice-Guidelines/Atrial-Fibrillation-Management-of-2010-and-Focused-Update-2012

Shallenberger, Frank. Does This Exciting New Research Mean I Have to Change My Advice About Taking Aspirin? Second Opinion. Vol. XXV, No. 9, September 2015.

Stafford, Randall S. The Aspirin Question. Bottom Line/Health. Volume 29, Number 10, October 2015, p. 4.

Maddox, Thomas M, Most People Don’t Benefti From Low-Dose Aspirin. Bottom Line Personal, Vollume 41, Number 18, September 15, 2020.

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