Magnesium Deficiency & Fatal Arrhythmias: Two Videos with Dr. Carolyn Dean
Mineral deficiencies like magnesium (Mg) can force the heart into fatal arrhythmias. Magnesium is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies. It’s chronically lacking in most diets. Almost everyone with A-Fib is magnesium deficient.
Two Videos About Magnesium Deficiency with Dr. Dean

C. Dean, MD
We have two videos in our A-Fib Video Library featuring Dr. Carolyn Dean, author of The Magnesium Miracle, talking about magnesium deficiency and calcium overload:
“The Best Way to Supplement Magnesium” with Dr. Carolyn Dean. Getting nutrients through food is not always possible; discusses side effects of too much Mg and how you can tell if you have a deficiency.(3:39) Go to video.
“Importance of Balancing Calcium & Magnesium”. Dr. Dean discusses the importance of balancing your intake of magnesium and calcium (2:1); the benefits of both and why you need to have both in the body; the problem of ‘calcium overload’. (2:30) Go to video.
Should You Take Magnesium Supplements?
As Dr. Carolyn Dean states, it’s hard to get enough magnesium from today’s food. Magnesium has been depleted from the soil by industrial scale farming. Therefore, A-Fib patients should consider taking magnesium supplements. (Note: it takes about 6 months of magnesium supplements to build up healthy level of Mg.)
For more about magnesium, see my article: Cardiovascular Benefits of Magnesium: Insights for Atrial Fibrillation Patients.
Video: A Live Case of Catheter Ablation for Long-Standing Persistent A-Fib Through 3D Mapping & ECG Images
Presented entirely through 3D mapping and ECG images, a live demo of ablation for long-standing, persistent A-Fib is followed from start to finish. Titles identify each step. No narration, music track only (I turned down the volume as the music track was distracting.)
3D mapping and ECG images show the technique of transseptal access, 3D mapping, PV isolation, and ablating additional drivers of AF in the posterior wall and left atrial appendage. (8:03) From a series of videos by Dr. Ong, Heart Rhythm Specialists of Southern California..
NOTE: Before viewing this video, you should already have some basic understanding of cardiac anatomy and A-Fib physiology.
YouTube video playback controls: When watching this video, you have several playback options. The following controls are located in the lower right portion of the frame: Turn on closed captions, Settings (speed/quality), Watch on YouTube website, and Enlarge video to full frame. Click an icon to select.
If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Thursday, January 18, 2018 Return to Instructional A-Fib Videos and Animations
Video: Stroke Prevention in A-Fib and Anticoagulant Therapy
Through interviews and animations explains how atrial fibrillation can cause stroke and why anticoagulation is so important. Discussion of warfarin (brand name Coumadin), the required (weekly or monthly) monitoring, interactions with food, alcohol and other drugs and the newer anticoagulants (NOACs).
Developed in association with Boehringer Ingelheim [one manufacturer of the new NOACs]. (5:36)
YouTube video playback controls: When watching this video, you have several playback options. The following controls are located in the lower right portion of the frame: Turn on closed captions, Settings (speed/quality), Watch on YouTube website, and Enlarge video to full frame. Click an icon to select.
If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Monday, January 15, 2018
Video: When Drug Therapy Fails: Why Patients Consider Catheter Ablation
For Insidermedicine.com. Dr. Susan M. Sharma discusses why patients with atrial fibrillation turn to ablation when drug therapy doesn’t work. Presenting research findings by David J. Wilber and MD; Carlo Pappone, MD, Dr. Sharma discusses the success rates of drug therapy versus catheter ablation. (See transcript below.) (3:00 min.) Published by Insidermedicine.com.
YouTube video playback controls: When watching this video, you have several playback options. The following controls are located in the lower right portion of the frame: Turn on closed captions, Settings (speed/quality), Watch on YouTube website, and Enlarge video to full frame. Click an icon to select.
If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Saturday, August 4, 2018
VIDEO: Catheter Ablation For A-Fib: What it is, How it’s Done and What Results Can Be Expected
Dr. Patrick Tchou and Dr. Bryan Baranowski, cardiologists from the Cleveland Clinic describe the catheter ablation procedure for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (A-Fib), what it is, how it’s done and what results can be expected from this surgery.
Excellent animations: showing A-Fib’s chaotic signals, and the pattern of ablation scars around the openings to the pulmonary veins. By the Cleveland Clinic (4:16 min.)
YouTube video playback controls: When watching this video, you have several playback options. The following controls are located in the lower right portion of the frame: Turn on closed captions, Settings (speed/quality), Watch on YouTube website, and Enlarge video to full frame. Click an icon to select.
If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Monday, January 31, 2022
Video: Inside the EP Lab with Dr. James Ong: Using Mapping & CT Scan Technologies During a Pulmonary Vein Isolation
Cardiac Electrophysiologist Dr. James Ong begins with a brief tour of the EP lab and control room; Dr. Ong explains how pulmonary vein isolation is done with radiofrequency ablation to cure atrial fibrillation.
Included are: Mapping technology; the Virtual Geometrical shell of the heart displayed next to the CT scan; Placement of the catheter, real time tracking; the Complex Fractionated Electrogram (CFE) Map used to identify and eliminate the extra drivers (aside from the pulmonary veins). (6:01) From a series of videos by Dr. Ong, Heart Rhythm Specialists of Southern California.
YouTube video playback controls: When watching this video, you have several playback options. The following controls are located in the lower right portion of the frame: Turn on closed captions, Settings (speed/quality), Watch on YouTube website, and Enlarge video to full frame. Click an icon to select.
If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Thursday, January 18, 2018
Video: An Impulse That’s Lost its Way—Insight to A-Fib, the Most Common Arrhythmia
A medical description of the mechanism and effects of Atrial Fibrillation (i.e., initiating triggers, abnormal substrate, electrical and structural remodeling, blood stasis and hypercoagulable state, etc.).
Animation with narration. 3:24 min. Uploaded by OverdrivePacing, Feb 8, 2012.
YouTube video playback controls: When watching this video, you have several playback options. The following controls are located in the lower right portion of the frame: Turn on closed captions, Settings (speed/quality), Watch on YouTube website, and Enlarge video to full frame. Click an icon to select.
If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Monday, January 15, 2018
EO: “Know Your Pulse: It Could Save Your Life” Awareness Campaign
As an A-Fib patient, do you know how to take your pulse? This short video explains why and how to take your pulse.
From the Arrhythmia Alliance (A-A) and The Heart Rhythm Charity in the UK. (Our British friend Trudie Lobban is Founder and Trustee.) 1:56 min.
YouTube video playback controls: When watching this video, you have several playback options. The following controls are located in the lower right portion of the frame: Turn on closed captions, Settings (speed/quality), Watch on YouTube website, and Enlarge video to full frame. Click an icon to select.
If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Monday, January 15, 2018
Return to Instructional A-Fib Videos and Animations
New Video Added to A-Fib Library
We’ve add a video to our library of Atrial Fibrillation videos:
“An Impulse That’s Lost its Way“
A medical description of the mechanism and effects of Atrial Fibrillation (i.e. initiating triggers, abnormal substrate, electrical and structural remodeling, blood stasis and hypercoagulable state, etc.). Animation with narration.
Difficulty level: Intermediate. 3:24 min. Watch video.
A-Fib.com Library of Videos and Animations
We have loads of A-Fib-related videos in our Video Library. For the reader who learns visually through motion graphics, audio, and personal interviews, these short videos are organized loosely into three levels: introductory/basic, intermediate and in-depth/advanced. Click to browse our video library.

Click image to go to video.
A Popular Video: ‘Buyer Beware of Misleading or Inaccurate A-Fib Information’, with Steve Ryan and host, Skip E. Lowe. Click image to go to video.
Steve Ryan Videos: We’ve edited Steve’s most interesting radio and TV interviews to create several short (3-5 min.) videos. Check out Videos Featuring Steve S. Ryan, PhD, publisher of A-Fib.com.
3:59 min. Click to Watch video.
My Top 5 Articles About Warfarin Therapy, Associated Risks and Alternatives
Any treatment plan for Atrial Fibrillation must address the increased risk of clots and stroke. By far the most commonly used medicine for stroke prevention is the anticoagulant warfarin (brand name Coumadin).
But warfarin is a tough drug to take long term with monthly blood tests and possible side effects. These are my top 5 articles to help you understand warfarin therapy, the associated risks and some of the alternatives.
Review these articles to learn more about Warfarin therapy:
1. Clinical Trials Results: Watchman Better Than a Lifetime on Warfarin;
2. Arterial Calcification From Warfarin: Vitamin K May Reverse it;
4. How to Avoid the Bleeding Risk of Anticoagulants;
5. If Sixty and Older: 99% Have Microbleeds—So Are Anticoagulants Risky?
Bonus: Video about Warfarin
Living with Warfarin: Patient Education
Excellent introduction to anticoagulant therapy with warfarin (Coumadin). Patients and medical professionals (clinical nurse, doctors, a pharmacist and clinical dietician) discuss the practical issues associated with taking warfarin. (16:22) Uploaded on Mar 7, 2011. Produced by Johns Hopkins Medicine.
An Alternative to Blood Thinners

The WATCHMAN device
Do you hate having to take Coumadin? Hate the monthly testing? Bothered by side effects? An alternative to taking blood thinners is closing off your Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) with the Watchman, an occlusion device. Learn more: The Watchman™ Device: The Alternative to Blood Thinners.