New clinical guidelines to help tackle stroke

New clinical guidelines have been developed for the first time in Australia to tackle a heart condition which causes up to a third of all strokes.

Atrial fibrillation is when the heart's upper chambers beat chaotically - out of sync with the rest of the heart.

The condition can lead to blood clots which can travel to the brain causing a stroke.

It is linked to one in 11 deaths in Australia and its growing prevalence prompted the National Heart Foundation and Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand to develop guidelines.

They will be used to help clinicians better diagnose and treat the condition in line with the latest evidence.

One of the main recommendations is the need to screen people over the age of 65.

"It's incidence is underestimated because many patients don't have clinical symptoms. This means AF is often only discovered once it triggers serious consequences, such as stroke," said cardiologist Professor Garry Jennings, the Heart Foundation's chief medical adviser.

It also recommends the use of newer blood thinning medications over warfarin to help with treatment compliance.

"These are much easier for patients to use because they don't require as intense monitoring," said Cia Connell, the Heart Foundation's clinical manager.

The report states that between one third and half of patients discontinue therapy within 2.5 years of starting stroke prevention treatment.

In relation to screening, it recommends a medical quality electrocardiogram trace to diagnose the condition, over taking a pulse or the use of pulse-based devices.

Keyhole surgery which involves the use of controlled electrical energy to zap the problem area of the heart is described as an effective procedure for carefully selected patients with symptoms.

Heart patient Laura McCloskey says the new guidelines will give greater clarity to both treating doctors and patients.

She takes one of the newer blood thinners to reduce her risk of stroke after she experienced signs of atrial fibrillation.

"I felt dizzy, I was very drained I had no energy whatsoever," she explained.

"I was quite surprised, no one in our family has it," she said about her initial diagnosis.

She says lifestyle changes such as losing weight has lessened the number of AF episodes.