mellanie

Carey, That is bizarre and it is not indicating it is full. We'll check on it when we get our heads above water. In the meantime, please email me at mhills@stopafib.org Thanks.

Dr. Marchlinski is one of the nicest people. His family is incredible, too. He brings his wife and son to many of the medical meetings, and I have watched his son grow up. His son has even become my "buddy". When we were all in Melbourne, Australia to speak at Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society, they took us down the river on the boat and then we walked several blocks to the National Museum for the faculty dinner. Dr. Marchlinski's son and I were first off the boat, and we walked together to the museum, leaving the "adults" behind. Now, every time he sees me, his son gives me a big huge, which is very unexpected for a young teen boy. But, he is a sweetheart! 

Mellanie

David, 

There are plenty of OTHER places that we each go to get a heads up on what is going on in politics. This will not be one of those places.

It's not the posting of the book that is the problem so much as it is an open invitation for others to post their thoughts, which inevitably ends up in a flame war. The stress is not good for anyone with afib, so we try to keep this a stress-free zone.

Mellanie

I'm doing a quick search since I've not run across it in working on the guidelines and don't hear about it at afib medical conferences.

I see some research that is old (2006) and that was called into question. For example, this quote from Dr. Ellenbogen (a close friend of ours) as a spokesperson for American Heart Association: "The AHA's Ellenbogen was also cautious about the findings. "The present study is a retrospective analysis of a large population study, and these findings will need further confirmation before definite recommendations about steroid use can be made," he said." And another researcher quoted in the same article indicated that most people who take cortisone already have an underlying condition that predisposes them to afib. [https://consumer.healthday.com/senior-citizen-information-31/misc-arthritis-news-41/corticosteroid-drugs-may-boost-cardiac-arrhythmia-risk-532577.html]

My sense is that cortisone is given for inflammation, and inflammation is an underlying cause of afib, so perhaps it's not the cortisone but instead the underlying condition/inflammation.

Mellanie

I have not been on the forum for several weeks as I have been gone to medical conferences. I have not seen your message, and don't know anything about cortisone having any relationship to afib. What caused you to ask about that?

Mellanie

Can you point me to what you are asking about as I cannot tell what you are referencing here?