Irregular Heartbeat Linked to Raised Death Risk in Women, University Hospital in Basel Study Finds

Women newly diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation have a significantly higher risk of death than women without this condition, suggests new research. Analyzing data on more than 34,000 middle-aged women, researchers found that women with recently diagnosed atrial fibrillation had an all-cause mortality rate of 10.8 per 1,000 person-years, compared to 3.1 per 1,000 person-years for women without atrial fibrillation. After adjusting the data for other factors that might contribute to the increased risk of death, the researchers still found that a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation more than doubled the risk of mortality.