Vice President Dick Cheney has recently been in the news with a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation. This condition is more common than you may think.
You may not realize it, but your heart runs on electrical power. That is, the steady, rhythmic beating of your heart inside your chest is controlled by an internal electrical system that spreads from the top of the heart to the bottom with each heartbeat. But if something in this electrical system goes wrong, the heart’s rhythm can become unsteady or abnormal – causing either an uneven heartbeat or one that’s too fast or too slow.