Will I always

QI HAVE been fit and healthy most of my life and now, at 86, have been diagnosed as having an irregular heartbeat for which I have been prescribed warfarin.

It makes me very tired and often breathless. Will I need to take this for the rest of my life or could my heartbeat go back to normal?

AI SUSPECT your irregular heartbeat is due to atrial fibrillation (AF).

In this, the heart muscle does not contract in a co-ordinated way, leading to a very irregular, often fast heartbeat and pulse.

There is also turbulence of the flow of blood within the heart and this can increase the risk of clots forming in the chambers.

If one of these travel and block one of the arteries in the brain, it can cause a stroke. This means people with AF are at five times increased risk of having a stroke.

In order to try to prevent this, anticoagulant (blood thinning) medication is given, either with warfarin or one of the newer drugs such as rivaroxaban.

Your breathlessness and tiredness are almost certainly caused by your abnormal heartbeat and treatment with drugs such as ACE inhibitors (ramipril, for example) and beta-blockers (such as bisoprolol) may improve it.

The warfarin you have been given won’t help with your heart but it will significantly cut your chance of having a stroke and