A normal heart beat rhythm is different for every person but it should stay between 60 and 80 beats per minutes or we have a problem. When your doctor diagnoses arrhythmia that means that you have abnormal heart rhythm.
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The rhythm of heart is determined by electrical impulses that begin in sinus node which is also called a natural pacemaker. If that natural rhythm is disturbed than we have arrhythmia. If your heart is beating slower than 60 beats per minute that's bradycardia, and if it beats more than 100 beats per minute that's tachycardia.
Under some circumstances all heart tissue can produce an impulse that generates a heartbeat. This impulse interrupts the normal heart rhythm. The other most common cause is when electrical impulses are blocked somewhere in their pathway and hearth doesn't know when to contract and when to rest.
If you have bradycardia that means that your beats too slow and it can't pump enough blood to other organs. In that case your body doesn't have enough oxygen and that may cause tiredness, dizziness, light-headedness or fainting. Since one of the organs that don’t have enough oxygen is brain, the coordinator of all body functions, bradycardia can cause life-threatening conditions.
Tachycardia occurs when the heart beats too fast and sends too much blood around. If you have tachycardia, your heartbeat might feel like a strong pulse in your neck or a racing beat in your chest. You can also feel discomfort in your chest, weakness, shortness of breath or faint - if you have any of these symptoms, see your doctor immediately.
There are several types of bradycardia and tachycardia and they are discovered through a series of tests. First, your doctor will review your medical history and history of your parents. Then, he will perform tests that include an electrocardiogram (ECG), electrophysiology studies (EPS), and exercise electrocardiogram (stress test).
Now, the good news: the vast majority of people with an arrhythmia can lead normal lives because in the most cases arrhythmia is treatable with lifestyle changes, medications, or surgery. Lifestyle changes - avoiding stress, cutting out alcohol and caffeine (tea, soft drinks, chocolate, and some over-the-counter pain medicines) - can solve the problem in many cases. A healthy diet and physically active life can help greatly.
Medications can control abnormal heart rhythms or related conditions such as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart failure and heart attack. Drugs also may be given to reduce the risk of blood clots in patients with certain types of arrhythmias.
Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) is very effective device in stopping ventricular fibrillation. This is a condition when heart rhythm irregularly changes from slow to fast and it is the major cause of sudden death. IDC can prevent death in 99 percent of cases. The device continuously monitors the heart rhythm, automatically functions as pacemakers for heart rates that are too slow, and delivers shocks if it detects dangerously fast heart rhythm.
Device that calms down the heart rate when it is too slow can take over for the heart's natural pacemaker when it is functioning improperly. That device, pacemaker, monitors the rhythm of the heart and sends electrical impulses to stimulate the heart when it beats too slowly.
Although surgery is sometimes used to treat abnormal heart rhythms, the doctors usually recommend it to treat other cardiac problems such as coronary artery disease and heart failure. Correcting these conditions may reduce the likelihood of arrhythmias.
And for the end one interesting fact: drinking four or more cups of coffee daily will result in reduced hospitalization for rhythm disturbances by 18 percent! ■