environmental causes of atrial fibrillation

[Guest guest]

My father, who is otherwise an extremely dynamic and energetic

individual for a 76 year old, is plagued by Atrial fibrillation.

Having worked for a large health care organization, I've had

extraordinary access to research published in peer reviewed medical

journals. This includes clinical trials and large-scale

epidemiological studies.

With all the research I've done over the years, one glaring fact

stands out that I can't get over - and that fact is that AF is far

more prevalent in Western countries than in areas where mainly plant-

based diets are consumed. In virtually every other circumstance where

any particular disease is more prevalent in industrialized Western

cultures, the cause of that disease is almost always environmental.

So what is it that we're doing differently in the US as opposed to,

say, certain rural regions of China and other countries? First of

all, does everyone agree that logically, AF must be environmentally

caused? And second, if that's true, then what do you think is causing

it?