Actually arrhythmia represents an irregular heartbeat. Arrhythmia is also sometimes named by the term dysrhythmia. Heart rates may be irregular. It is considered that a normal rate of the heart is 50 – 100 beats every minute. Abnormal heart rates and arrhythmias do not always happen together.
Arrhythmia can be present with a normal rate of the heart, and with slow heart rates which are named with the term bradyarrhythmias (below 60 beats every minute). Arrhythmias may be present with fast heart rates which are known under the term tachyarrhythmias (more than 100 beats a minute). In the US about 850 thousand individuals are hospitalized for some arrhythmia type per year.
Arrhythmias might be provoked by many various conditions, including:
- heart muscle changes
- coronary artery disease
- injury resulted from a heart attack
- electrolyte imbalances in the blood (sodium and potassium)
- treatment after a heart surgery
- irregular heart beat may happen also in people with healthy hearts.
Arrhythmia may be silent and in some cases can show no symptoms. A physician can identify some irregular heartbeat during an examination taking the pulse or by the help of an electrocardiogram.
The common symptoms of arrhythmia are the following:
- palpitations (feelings of skipped heart rythms, fluttering , and the feeling like the heart is running away);
- pounding in the chest;
- fainting;
- dizziness and a light-headed feeling;
- discomfort in chest;
- difficulty breathing;
- fatigue (people often have a feeling of being extremely tired).
Actually the type of treatment depends on the seriousness and form of arrhythmia. Some patients with arrhythmias do not need any treatments. In other cases treatments are necessary and they include medicine, changes in lifestyle and sometimes the necessity to undergo some surgical procedures.
A range of medications are nowadays available for treating different types of arrhythmia. They are the following:
Antiarrhythmic drugs. The given medications control the rate of heart, and they also include beta blockers.
Anticoagulant (antiplatelet therapy). The following medicines decrease the risk factors of blood clots occurring and they include warfarin (which is a blood thinner) and also aspirin.
Due to the fact that all people are different, it might need trials of several medicines’ types and dosages in order to find the one which is most appropriate for you.