Professor HU Yuanhui analyzes the physiological characteristics of the elderly from the aspects of deficiency of true essence and true

yang

in the kidney， and believes that the main pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation in elderly patients is kidney deficiency as the root and blood stasis with fluid retention as the manifestation. Based on this， he classifies the condition into three types for treatment： kidney

yin

depletion with dryness， disharmony of water and fire； essence damage with blood deficiency and heart vessel stasis； and kidney

yang

deficiency with water flooding the heart. He proposes the treatment principlefocusing on tonifying the kidney as the root while concurrently addressing blood stasis and retained fluid， and advocates for kidney-toni

fying as the core approach， with flexible application of methods such as nourishing the kidney and clearing the heart to calm internal wind and palpitations； tonifying the kidney and replenishing essence to promote blood circulation and alleviate palpitations； and reinforcing kidney

yang

to resolve fluid retention and stop palpitations in the treatment of atrial fibrillation in the elderly.