Heart Arrhythmia: Symptoms and Treatment
Electrical signals in the heart muscle regulate your heart’s rhythm, but if this internal electrical system malfunctions, your heart may beat too fast, too slow or irregularly. That’s called an arrhythmia. Arrhythmias may hinder your heart’s ability to pump blood to the body, which can affect the organs and tissues that depend on oxygen and nutrients in the blood.
Many abnormal heart rhythms aren’t serious, but some can increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, which is a life-threatening condition. Certain cardiac arrhythmias may also lead to stroke or heart failure. If you notice an irregular heart rate, it’s important to see a cardiologist to find out if you have an arrhythmia and how to treat it. Cardiologists have a variety of treatment options to choose from that can help return your heart to a normal rhythm.
Wondering what to do about an abnormal heart rhythm? Call 843-770-4550 to schedule an appointment with a board-certified cardiologist who can diagnose the problem, pinpoint its source and treat the arrhythmia.
Heart Arrhythmia Causes
A variety of factors can cause faulty electrical signals in the heart that may lead to an arrhythmia, including:
- Abnormal potassium levels
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Certain heart, blood pressure and depression medications
- Congenital heart disease
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Hyperthyroidism
- Smoking
Types of Arrhythmia
- Atrial fibrillation (AFib): The most common form of arrhythmia, AFib is a type of tachycardia, or a fast heartbeat.
- Atrial flutter: This type of tachycardia can develop after heart surgery or a heart attack or as a complication of other health conditions, such as diabetes and lung disease.
- Bradyarrhythmia: Also known as bradycardia, bradyarrhythmia is a slow heart rate.
- Ventricular fibrillation: A risk factor for sudden cardiac arrest, ventricular fibrillation is quivering of the heart’s two lower chambers, which prevents the muscle from pumping blood properly.
- Ventricular tachycardia: This is when the ventricles beat too fast.
Not all types of arrhythmia cause symptoms, but if you do have them, you may experience:
- A fast, slow or erratic heart rate
- A feeling that your heart is pounding or skipping beats
- Blurred vision
- Chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Sweating
Heart Arrhythmia Treatment
After asking about your medical history and conducting a physical exam, your Beaufort Memorial cardiologist may recommend one or more tests to diagnose an arrhythmia. These may include an electrocardiogram, which provides information about how the heart’s electrical system is working, and an echocardiogram, which shows how the heart muscle functions. Your cardiologist may also want you to wear a heart rhythm recorder called a Holter monitor or undergo an electrophysiology study to observe your heart during an arrhythmia.
To treat an arrhythmia, your cardiologist may recommend:
- An implantable cardioverter defibrillator, a device that sits in your chest and delivers an electric shock to the heart if it starts beating dangerously fast
- A pacemaker, a device that helps regulate your heart rhythm if it detects a problem
- Cardioversion, a procedure that delivers an electric shock to the heart so it will enter a normal rhythm
- Catheter ablation, a procedure that uses extreme heat, cold or a laser to destroy the tissue where the abnormal rhythm originates
- Lifestyle changes, such as exercising, eating healthy and quitting smoking, that can improve heart health
- Medications that help control or restore the heart’s rhythms, known as antiarrhythmics