Irregular heartbeat causes

Irregular heartbeat causes are very diversified, beginning with heart disease and continuing with electrolyte imbalance or other medical conditions unrelated to heart pathology. Many times we wonder what is the meaning of the palpitations: Is it something wrong? Do I need to see a doctor?
In some cases, irregular heartbeat causes remain uncovered, persons with “healthy” hearts experience palpitations (also called arrhythmia in medical practice). However, each person with these complaints should have a medical examination, in order to exclude a disorder that may cause these symptoms, as we will see next.
A normal heart rate is 60 to 90 beats per minute; if heart rate is under 60 beats/minute, then we have a bradycardia and over 90 beats/minute a tachycardia. Arrhythmia occurs with a normal heart rate, but also with a low or rapid heart rate.
In order to understand the next medical terms, some specifications are necessary: sinus node, atrioventricular node and Purkinje fibers are the heart system (the heart pacemakers) which normally conducts impulse to muscle cells and make the contraction possible; a pacemaker is a group of cells capable of generating electrical impulse and heart contraction;
How many types of irregular heartbeat causes exist in medical practice?

• sinus node dysfunction (one of the pacemakers, located in the atrium is no longer working properly): e.g. sinus bradycardia, sinus node stops, sinus node blocks,
• supraventricular extrasystoles (irregular heart beats generated in the sinus node or atrioventricular node, they occur faster then a normally heart beat and are followed by a pause)
• sinus tachycardia, supraventricular tachycardia (rapid heart rate generated above the ventricular tissue)
• atrial fibrillation and flutter (irregular heart beats generated by multiple atrial pacemakers, others then the normal heart pacemakers)
• ventricular tachycardia (rapid heart beats generated in ventricles), extrasystoles (a premature heart contraction generated by a ventricle pacemaker) and ventricular fibrillation (rapid heart rate, incompatible with life, this is a heart rate that determines cardiac arrest)
• atrioventricular blocks (cardiac impulse is delayed or blocked in the atrioventricular node, and will be received by ventricles later or at all)
• torsade of points (a form of ventricular tachycardia that occurs when there is a potassium deficit)

What are the irregular heartbeat causes?

There are different disorders that can be a cause of irregular heartbeat causes including:

• Coronary artery disease ( coronary vessels that supply heart tissues with blood are blocked, usually by atheroma, the consequence of this blockage will be heart ischemia-the oxygen deprivation of heart tissues- and this can be one of the irregular heartbeat causes),

Atheroma is a swelling of the artery walls determined by an accumulation of lipidis.

• A heart attack it is common among  irregular heartbeat causes,
• Electrolyte imbalances (such as sodium, magnesium or potassium): e.g. a high level of potassium can result in cardiac arrest,
• Heart muscle changes (fibrosis-a conjunctive tissue deposit in the heart muscle- can also affect cells responsible for electrical impulse generation- the pacemakers),
• Healing process after heart surgery,
• Heart failure it is also one of the  irregular heartbeat causes, because in this condition one of the mechanism that heart uses to compensate for its diminished function is sinus tachycardia (if it can’t pump a proper amount of blood, it tries to pump a smaller amount but faster),
• Infection or fever is one of the irregular heartbeat causes, many times associated with sinus tachycardia,
• Anemia, in severe cases produces sinus tachycardia, the heart tries to pump the blood faster, in order to compensate for the lack of red blood cells and hemoglobin, the oxygen carrier,
• Thyroid disease-e.g. hyperthyroidism is associated with rapid heart beats, while hypothyroidism with low heart rate,
• Emotional stress produces irregular heartbeats, specially in people suffering from heart diseases,
• Usage of caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol are related with irregular heartbeat causes.

The usage of drugs is an important problem of the nowadays society, also with a great impact on our body: many times the usage of drugs was mentioned as one of irregular heartbeat causes and there were cases when cocaine consumption determined heart attacks and death.

If you think you have irregular heartbeat causes please see your physician.

Fibrillation of the heart

Fibrillation of the heart

In the next part of the article we will discuss about fibrillation of the heart, one type of irregular heart rate and what are the consequences for our body. Our heart is an organ that has a so called „automatism”, an intrinsic property of the cardiac tissue to create its own electric impulse, a signal that allows changes in cell metabolism in order to generate cardiac muscle contraction and therefore pumping blood into the arteries. This electric signal is generated in the sinus node (a structure capable of generating electric signal, located in right atrium) and then conducted through special structures until it reaches the ventricles (heart chambers that pump blood into the arteries). If these structures called pacemakers, can’t function normally, irregular heart rate occurs and one of them is fibrillation of the heart.

 What is fibrillation of the heart ?

What is fibrillation of the heart? And how many types of fibrillation of the heart exist? There are two types of fibrillation of the heart: one is called atrial fibrillation and another ventricular fibrillation. The difference between these types of fibrillation of the heart is not just in name, but also in origin and prognostic. The first type of fibrillation of the heart-the atrial fibrillation-is an irregular heart rate generated in multiple atrial cells (but not in the sinus node which is the „natural” heart pacemaker).
Patients with atrial fibrillation may experience palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, drowsiness, fainting, but there are some patients that don’t complain of any symptom and they are diagnosed with the occasion of a routine medical check or when the complications occur. Usually, atrial fibrillation allows blood clots to form and they can flow in the arteries and block them, causing a condition known as ischemia: the tissues won’t receive enough blood and oxygen and cells start to die. In this situation, strokes, pulmonary embolism (clots in the pulmonary arteries that can lead to death), limbs ischemia (if untreated it can lead to amputation) can occur and can lead to patient’s death, if immediate  measures aren’t taken. On the electrocardiogram, in atrial fibrillation there is an irregular heart rate, without „P” waves (which are a mark of  heart rate generated by the sinus node) and the frequency of the heart beats can vary: low, average or rapid.
If this arrhythmia was discovered at its beginning, a conversion to the normal heart rate called sinus rhythm can be tried (either using medication or with electric shocks). After this procedure succeeded, other medication is needed in order to maintain the normal heart rate, to control the normal frequency of the heart beats and prevent blood clotting. In some patients, when the beginning of this arrhythmia is unknown, doctors will use only drugs to control the heart rate (beta blockers like metoprolole, atenolol; digoxin-a drug that increases heart contractility and also has antuarrthymic properties, very often used in the treatment of atrial fibrillation, calcium channel blockers like amlodipine, verapamil, diltiazem) and prevent blood clotting. Atrial fibrillation associated with rapid heart rate can be a severe medical condition affecting the level of consciousness and the only way to save patient life is the electrical conversion to the sinus rhythm using electric shocks.
The other type of fibrillation of the heart-ventricular fibrillation is an irregular heart rate generated in the ventricular cells and is not compatible with life, meaning that is one of the heart rate that generates cardiac arrest. Heart stops from beating and emergency measures of resuscitation are needed-cardiac massage alternating with artificial oxygenation of lungs, using facial masks with balloons or orotracheal intubation (which is preferred if it is possible to perform), electric shocks, specific medication like adrenaline, vasopressin, amiodarone. If in 30-45 minutes all these maneuvers are unsuccessfully, then the patient is declared dead.

As we saw above, fibrillation of the heart is a major heart disorder, that requires  special attention, knowledge, maneuvers and skills, since ventricular fibrillation is the most frequent cause of cardiac arrest in adults.