New Publication by Men's Health Network Educates the Millions of Americans at Risk of Atrial Fibrillation

WASHINGTON, DC, September 10, 2012 (Press-News.org) September is Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness of a disease that affects over 5 million people in the United States, a number expected to rise to 12 million by 2050.

Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) is an irregular, often rapid heart rate that prevents blood from effectively being pumped into the heart's ventricles. Symptoms of AFib can include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain and fatigue, but the greatest concern of someone with AFib is the risk of stroke. AFib increases the risk of stroke by 5 times and someone has a stroke caused by AFib nearly every 12 seconds in the U.S. While it can occur at any age, AFib is more common as people grow older, and many Americans who have AFib don't know it.

In an effort to increase awareness of AFib, and a whole range of cardiovascular diseases, Men's Health Network has recently published HeartBeat: What You Can Do For Your Heart Health, a part of the Blueprint For Men's Health series of publications.

This informational guide written by Armin Brott in collaboration with Janet H. Matope and the Men's Health Network Advisory Board offers simple, practical advice on how to live a heart-healthy lifestyle. The booklet offers simple, easy to understand explanations of cholesterol, heart attack and AFib, risk factors, symptoms, and much more for men, women and parents. HeartBeat is available for free download from http://www.menshealthnetwork.org/library/Heartbeat.pdf

The booklet also includes forewords by Ola Akinboboye, MD, President of the Association of Black Cardiologists, and Janet Wright, MD, Executive Director of the Million Hearts Initiative at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Salvatore J. Giorgianni, Science Advisor to MHN offers opening comments. This booklet was made possible with support from Boehringer Ingelheim. Heartbeat was also written in collaboration with the Association of Black Cardiologists, the Veterans Health Council, Men's Health Alliance and other organizations.

Men's Health Network (www.menshealthnetwork.org) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to reach men and their families where they live, work, play, and pray with health prevention messages and tools, screening programs, educational materials, advocacy opportunities, and patient navigation.