Our heart beat can give a lot of insight to our heart health. This is especially true when it comes to atrial fibrillation, the most common type of heart arrhythmia.

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, impacts approximately five million Americans with 200,000 new cases each year. Our featured guest in this episode of My Healthy Life, Jason Lappe, MD, says with Asheville being a retirement community, there are a lot of people in our region impacted by this condition. AFib is usually progressive – by age 65, it’s estimated that 10 percent of the US population lives with AFib and by age 80, about 20 percent of the population.

Here in western North Carolina, patients with AFib have access to some of the highest quality and most innovative heart care in the nation with Mission Health’s heart program and services. “A lot of what I do, particularly for faster heart rhythms, is helping people feel better – improving people’s quality of life and that’s why I find my job so rewarding,” Dr. Lappe shares.

Mission Heart has been a regional leader in heart care and cardiothoracic surgery for more than 40 years. Our award-winning teams, including Asheville Cardiology Associates, maintain a high level of specialized clinical experience and expertise to provide a team-oriented, comprehensive approach to care for patients with heart issues. IBM Watson Health has recognized Mission Heart as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospital for the thirteenth year. Learn more at missionhealth.org/heart.