Boehringer Ingelheim Atrial Fibrillation symposium focuses on stroke threats in UAE

The symposium took place in the presence of around 200 UAE based cardiologists, neurologists, haematologists and internists. The event was attended by global prominent doctor speakers and coincided with the announcement of the launch of Boehringer Ingelheim's medical advancement of an oral blood thinner in the UAE for the prevention of strokes in people with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation, the most common sustained heart rhythm disorder.

One in four adults over the age of 40 develop AF in their lifetime, resulting in 4.5 million people suffering from AF in Europe. AF patients have a five times increased risk of suffering a stroke, resulting in three million people worldwide having AF-related strokes each year. Patients with AF have been shown to have a worse quality of life than for example patients who have previously suffered a heart attack, due to the constant fear of suffering from a stroke.

Dr. Michael D. Ezekowitz, Director of Atrial Fibrillation Research & Education at Cardiovascular Research Foundation, commented, "AF is a major risk factor for stroke as it allows pooling of blood in the heart, causing blood clots to form. By travelling up to the vessels in the brain and blocking them, these clots can cause a stroke. Strokes from AF are particularly devastating as the clots are often very big, obstructing large vessels of the brain. This leads to greater disability, such as more severe loss of muscle function or loss of speech."

Dr. Arif Al-Mulla, Head of Cardiology at Dubai Hospital, alerted the participants saying, "The symposium is a platform to highlight what is one of the biggest health concerns of the current century. Atrial Fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia worldwide and is also a common cause of hospital admission in the Gulf region. In 2011, AF was the primary reason for the ER visits in 45% of patients in the Gulf region".

There has been recent increased interest in AF because of the expected rise in its prevalence, the greater appreciation of its serious outcomes, and the development of new anticoagulant and antiarrhythmic medications for its management.

"The new era of anti coagulants and blood thinners as medications for Atrial Fibrillation had overcome the old medication's limitations such as the need for regular monitoring and various food-drug and drug-drug interactions", said Dr. Mohamed Meshref, Medical Director for Middle East and North Africa at Boehringer Ingelheim.

During the symposium the discussion tackled issues related to challenges of treating AF patients, medical advancement of the new oral anti-coagulants for stroke prevention in AF and the usage of the new medications.