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Hypertension problems
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Heart arrhythmias
Heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias) occur when the electrical impulses in your heart that coordinate your heartbeats don't function properly, causing your heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly.
Arrhythmias are common and usually harmless. Most people have occasional, irregular heartbeats that may feel like a skipped, fluttering or racing heart. However, some heart arrhythmias may cause bothersome — sometimes even life-threatening — signs and symptoms.
Advances in medical technology have added new treatment methods to the procedures that doctors may use to try to control or eliminate arrhythmias. In addition, because troublesome arrhythmias are often made worse — or are even caused — by a weak or damaged heart, you may be able to reduce your arrhythmia risk by adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle.
Symptoms
Arrhythmias may not cause any signs or symptoms. In fact, your doctor might detect them before you do, during a routine examination. But often, abnormal heart rhythms cause noticeable signs and symptoms, which may include:
* A fluttering in your chest
* A racing heartbeat
* A slow heartbeat
* Chest pain
* Shortness of breath
* Lightheadedness
* Dizziness
* Fainting (syncope) or near fainting
Noticeable signs and symptoms don't always indicate a serious problem. Some people who feel arrhythmias don't have a serious problem, while others who have life-threatening arrhythmias have no symptoms at all.
What's a normal heartbeat?
When your heart beats, the electrical impulses that cause it to contract must follow a precise pathway through your heart. Any interruption in these impulses can cause an arrhythmia.
Before learning about what can cause an arrhythmia, first consider what should happen during a normal heartbeat.
Your heart is divided into four hollow chambers. Divided top to bottom, the chambers on each half of your heart form two adjoining pumps with an upper chamber (atrium) and a lower chamber (ventricle).
During a heartbeat, the smaller, less muscular atria contract and fill the relaxed ventricles with blood. This contraction starts when the sinus node — a small group of cells in your right atrium — sends an electrical impulse causing your right and left atria to contract.
The impulse then travels to the atrioventricular node, located at the center of your heart and which lies on the pathway between your atria and your ventricles. From here, the signal exits the atrioventricular node and travels through your ventricles, causing them to contract and discharge blood throughout your body. |