The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) said it recently updated its guidelines for treating atrial fibrillation.
The latest updates affect measures first released in 2003 that AAFP worked out with the American College of Physicians.
The new guide, titled the "Pharmacologic Management of Newly Detected Atrial Fibrillation," includes the use of blood thinners that have been developed since 2003, AAFP said in a release.
The release said the updated measures will go to all primary care doctors for use with patients who have one of three kinds of atrial fibrillation: an unusual fast heartbeat that can often contribute to bad blood flow, an atrial fibrillation where unusual heartbeat goes on for longer than a week, or atrial fibrillation that goes on to the point where a doctor and the patient have decided its not best to try to bring back a usual heartbeat.
